140 Years
by FossilRuins
Summary: Clarissa Fairchild lived a normal life in London in 1878 until one morning she wakes up in a new and unfamiliar world. Brooklyn, New York in 2018. Now, she's plagued with mystery, confusion, and the descendants of her old friends. Will she ever get the answers she looks for or will her world keep spiraling out of control?
1. When December Starts

**Hey y'all! So one of my friends gave me this idea a few months back (more than a few months but whatever) and anyway, here we go. Enjoy, you readers.**

"Clarissa!" The boy with the famous black hair and blue eyes called out. He sprinted towards his red-headed friend almost slipping on the ice of the slick England streets. When he caught up, he slung an arm around her.

"Hey, Will," Clary grinned up at the boy. A scarf hung loosely around her neck and a large coat hugged her body. It was December and the wind was brisk.

"I was just headed to meet Tess and Jem for some coffee," he said.

Clary raised an eyebrow with a smile. "Really? That's so insane because I was also just headed to meet up with two people named Tessa and Jem for some coffee."

Will shook his head with a sarcastic smile. "Crazy, who knew there were so many 'Tessa's and 'Jem's in London."

"Well," Clary continued. "I guess since we're meeting two different pairs of people named Tessa and Jem we should probably part ways." As they continued walking in the same direction, both their smiles grew wider.

"Don't tell me that you're going to the same place I am," Will said as they approached the little shop.

"Insane," Clary said. "Next thing you know it's gonna turn out that we're meeting the same Tessa and Jem here." The door opened and the two immediately spotted their friends. As Tessa waved them over, Clary turned to Will with a mock look of shock on her face. "Well, Herondale, I suppose it really is a small, small world."

Will shook his head still with his arm of Clary's shoulders and they walked toward the table. "Too bad I'm stuck in it with you, Fairchild."

Clary harshly pushed Will off her and plopped down in the seat behind Tessa. The girl grinned as she wrapped her arms around Clary for a fast and strong hug.

"Right to business," Jem said as Tessa was releasing Clary. Everyone turned to the boy with dazzling silver hair as he continued. "Since today is December first we're doing secret Santa draws tonight at the Herondale manor. Now, I know you guys are opposed, but I say that we include Gabriel and Gideon to make this more fun."

"Ugh," Will groaned. "I don't want to wind up buying a present for the Lightworms. If we do include them can you make sure I don't draw one of their names?"

"No cheating," Tessa scolded. Will looked over at her with silent protest not willing himself to say a thing. For the past year, Clary had known about Will's secret crush on the girl- secret due to the fact that she and Jem were already a bit of a thing. It killed Will that he felt that way for Tessa, but he had told Clary he couldn't control how felt though he could control how he acted. So, he did absolutely nothing.

"Fine," he gave in with a toss of his hands. "But you'll be paying for it if I draw a Lightworm. You'll all be paying for it."

Jem rolled his eyes at his best friend. The two had been inseparable before and since Clary had first met them. "Anyway, I was thinking that we could include Magnus too. He always gives the most extravagant gifts."

Clary laughed. "Do you guys remember that one time when he bought two white ponies and four dozen red roses and sent them to the Lightwood manor with no context? Gabriel was so confused for the longest time."

Tessa nodded her head also laughing at the memory. "He's so much fun. Let's definitely include Magnus Bane!"

Jem wrote something down with a nod. "Alright, and I believe that's all for the business part of this meeting."

"Now on to the fun part," Will clapped his hands together. "It's supposed to snow all tonight and tomorrow. I say that we go over to the huge hill and sled."

"Only if the snow sticks," said Tessa.

"So that's a yes?" Will grinned.

"That's a maybe," Clary replied silently praying to herself that the snow would stick.

"Good enough for me," Will shrugged. "I should actually be heading out soon, though. I just wanted to stop by for a minute, but I'm meeting up with my little sis. Apparently, she has to tell me something and doesn't think I'm going to take it too well." Will stood up then.

"Good luck with that," said Jem. "You can tell me later who we need to beat the crap out of."

Will gave Jem two thumbs up before turning and leaving the shop. Tessa shook her head at Jem after Will was gone.

"Why do you automatically assume you're going to have to beat someone up?" She asked.

"It's Will and Cecily," Jem pointed out. "He's so overprotective of her that I would honestly be utterly shocked if he didn't kill the first guy that shows any sign of interest in her. Even if whatever she tells him doesn't have to do with some other person or is super mild, Will's gonna find someone or something to punch."

"You have a point," said Clary and Tessa furrowed her eyebrows.

"You guys are too understanding," she said.

Clary shrugged. "Who's going to tell Will what to do? He won't listen to us. As much as he may love you guys," Clary's eyes dwindled on Tessa during that statement. "He doesn't listen to anyone."

Tessa opened her mouth to reply but promptly closed it. There was something in her eyes that told Clary she was more so worried about Will than she was about the people he could potentially harm. It was obvious to Clary that the girl felt something for Will too, but she still liked Jem. The little love triangle between the three exhausted her since she always had to listen one of them talk about the other. It was sad how oblivious they all were and yet hilarious at the same time.

For the next hour, the three sat there talking about whatever. When Clary got back home, she was met by her mother and Magnus Bane. Apparently, the man had been there for ten or so minutes waiting for Clary to get back home.

"Biscuit," he said in a loving tone. He pulled Clary in for a hug. Magnus was several years older than the rest of the group, but everyone had to admit that he was their favorite. He was always so full of life.

"Hey, Magnus," Clary greeted. "What are you doing here?" She gave her mother a smile of acknowledgment as she spoke.

"Isn't it obvious?" Magnus said. "I'm here to see you."

Clary rolled her eyes. "Well yeah, but any particular reason?"

"Actually," Magnus glanced over at Jocelyn who then proceeded to exit the room leaving the two alone. As soon as she was gone, Magnus guided Clary over to a chair and they both sat. "I wanted to talk to you about something." Clary furrowed her eyebrows with worry but stayed quiet. "As we all know, William is leaving for America in a few months."

"We don't talk about that," Clary immediately rebutted. Will was going to be moving to America and it was a touchy subject amongst the entire group so they merely ignored it. They weren't going to deal with his being gone until the time came that he would actually leave.

"Right," Magnus glanced down at his hands. "Well, as it turns out, an old friend of mine is in New York and they want me to come down for a while. They said it was an emergency and so I'm going to be leaving a few days before Christmas."

Clary's mouth parted as her heart filled with sadness. Now, two of her friends would be gone and one was even going to miss their favorite holiday. She fidgeted in her seat as she pressed Magnus for answers. "How long will you be gone for?"

"I don't know," Magnus shook his head. "I just wanted to tell you now so that you were ready for it. I'm really sorry, biscuit."

"No, I understand." Clary took a deep breath. "I just wish you didn't have to go so soon. The others are going to be really disappointed you'll be missing out on secret Santa."

"I know," Magnus looked away from Clary almost as though he was hiding something. She narrowed her eyes at him, but when he looked back there was nothing in his gaze that indicated something was off. "I'll miss you, kiddo, but I'll be back someday. I just don't know when."

Clary nodded and stood up to pull Magnus in for a hug. He returned the hug tightly and didn't let go for a long moment even after Clary loosened her grip. When they finally did part, Clary looked up at the man and smiled.

"Don't worry," she said. "We won't forget about you and we won't forget about Will. You guys will always be a part of us."

Magnus grinned. "I love you, Clarissa."

"I love you too, Magnus." Clary beamed trying not to think about the fact that she was losing two of her closest friends. "You're like the brother I never had."

"You're more like a daughter to me," Magnus laughed. Clary rolled her eyes knowing what he meant by that, he was so overprotective of both her and Tessa that the two were hardly allowed anywhere unless Jem, Will, or Magnus was with them.

"Well, perhaps with you gone I'll finally get a little bit of freedom." Clary smiled widely as Magnus' glared at her.

"You are but a child, biscuit, do children things."

"It's 1878," Clary sighed. "I can handle myself."

Magnus shook his head looking for a clock to check the time. "Whatever you say. Just, keep what I told you a secret until I manage to tell the others. I don't want them all freaking out." Clary nodded. "Good, now why don't we head to Will's house, the secret Santa drawing should be starting in an hour."

"You won't be able to give anyone their present, though," Clary stated.

"I know that and you know that," said Magnus heading for the door. "But no one else knows that. I'll just leave the present for whoever I pick with you and you can give it to them on Christmas for me. Deal?"

Clary felt like protesting but could hardly bring herself to. She nodded her head as she pulled her coat back on and exited the house. "Deal."

* * *

Almost two hours later, Clary sat with her closest friends by a fireplace. They talked and laughed with a feeling of joy and carelessness in the air. It wasn't until Jem grabbed his hat and spoke that Clary even remembered the conversation she'd had with Magnus just a short while before.

"In this hat," announced Jem and the group fell silent. Clary sat between Tessa and Gideon with Will on the other side of Tessa and Gabriel on the other side of Gideon, Magnus stood leaning against a wall. Clary had noticed that Will was avoiding Gabriel more than usual tonight, she would have to ask him about that. "I have the names of everybody in this room in this hat. We will go in order, starting with myself, and blindly draw from said hat. Now, if you choose yourself please be honest and say it." Jem gave each person a pointed look before turning his head, closing his eyes, and sticking his hand into the hat. He dug around for a moment before finally pulling out a slip of paper. When he read it, he smiled widely. It was the smile that meant he had pulled Tessa. Of course.

"My turn," Will sat up excitedly and did the exact same thing as Jem. When he read his paper he also grinned. Clary narrowed her eyes trying to figure out who he got: likely Jem or herself, he wouldn't be smiling if he had gotten a Lightwood... or would he? Clary's eyes widened as she realized he was probably going to stick a pile of worms in Gabriel's bed.

When Clary got the hat, she pulled out the first slip of paper she touched. It was Magnus. Why was she not surprised by this turn of events? She smiled up at him, but he wasn't paying attention as he pulled out his own slip of paper. He grinned down at Clary immediately and she knew that he had her. She was suddenly anxious for the gift that he would give her. Magnus knew her too well, she thought.

By the end of the night, everybody had managed to keep secret who they got though Clary had her suspicions for just about everyone. She got home quickly and opened up her sketchbook. She had no idea what to get Magnus but figured that he would appreciate a drawing accompanying her present. She had already done a parting painting for Will that she would give to him the day he left for America. It was a simple painting of the London landscape but she hoped it would be enough that he wouldn't forget about them. Her signature was at the bottom and she ran her hand over it sighing deeply.

Clary set the painting aside and started drawing something for Magnus. She could hardly think so she let her hand do the work for her. It ended up looking like Tessa so Clary added Jem to one side and Will to the other. The three smiled broadly at her as her eyes began to drift closed with sleep. Clary set the sketch aside and readied herself for bed quickly. It wasn't long until she was under her covers falling fast asleep.

Little did she know that after that night nothing would ever be the same.

 **Let me know what you think so far. Obviously not much is going on here other than introduction of what was Clary's life before everything happened, but what is it going to be like after? I'm excited for this and I really hope y'all liked it. Please review!**


	2. When You're In New York

The sound of a bell tolling wakes Clary with a jolt. She groans as she sits up still with her eyes closed. The groan is cut short when she hears birds tweeting. Her eyes open in slits and she peers around at her surroundings. Blue... green... gray. Sky... grass... church. WAIT WHAT?

Clary's head twists in all directions as she realizes that she's outside in her nightgown. Not only is she outside, she has no idea where she is. The surroundings are unfamiliar and, although it has the same briskness, the air is not the same London air that Clary is used to. It's different, foreign. She stands and backs into the rough wall of the church that woke her. What happened? Where is she? The last thing she remembers is going to sleep in her bed.

As a small group of people passes by down the street, Clary drops to stay hidden in the bushes. Her mouth gapes when she catches sight of the girls that walk by. Pants! They're all wearing pants! Not even pants actually because these pieces of fabric hardly came halfway down their thighs. It seems so heinous and yet, there's something so natural about it. Still, Clary furrows her eyebrows at their outfits before her eyes drop down to her own clothing. First, she wasn't suitably dressed to be outside anyway. Second, she was smart enough to know that she needed something to fit in until she could find out what was going on.

Clary waited for the coast to be clear before standing up again and walking down the street. She grimaces at her nightgown but pushes through looking for something to tell her where she is and what day it is. She turns a corner to see a strange contraption coming down the street. It looks like it's made of red metal and there are four wheels spinning underneath it propelling it forward. Her eyes go wide at the sight of the thing, but it's soon gone around the corner of the street. She takes a deep shuttering breath as her mind whirls.

"Hey," the voice calls out from behind Clary. At first, she doesn't think it's directed at her, but when she hears footsteps nearing she turns around. A gorgeous raven-haired girl with dark brown eyes approaches with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry to bother you, it's just that you look a little lost." She eyes Clary's clothing just as Clary eyes her clothing. She wears a dark blue top that stops at her navel and tight denim pants with a pair of heeled leather boots.

"I am," Clary admits warily. Maybe she can get help from this girl.

The girl stares at Clary for a moment longer before clasping her hand on her elbow and leading her down a different street. "Here, come with me. I'm going to get you a new set of clothes and then you can tell me who you are."

Clary hesitates as she's pulled along. "First, could you tell me who you are?"

"Sure," the girl nods still walking. "My name is Isabelle and I am the girl that is going to save your ass." With no further explanation, she continues on until they stop at a mansion of a house and enter. Isabelle leads Clary down the halls with her heels echoing the entire way.

Eventually, the two make it to what appears to be a spare bedroom. Isabelle tells Clary that she can shower in the bathroom and she'll return with some fresh clothes in a few minutes. The moment the strange girl is gone, Clary strips free of her nightgown and enters the bathroom. It takes her several minutes, but she eventually figures out how to work the shower. She stays in it for only ten minutes before getting out and finding clothing laid out on the bed. Clary inspects what she's given with confusion and distaste. She reluctantly puts on the cutoff denim and the purple shirt. She exits the room and wanders the halls until she comes across what appears to be a large kitchen. Isabelle is in it looking through the pantry.

Clary clears her throat and the girl nearly hits her head when she jumps. She whirls around and gives Clary a big smile. She gestures to stools that surround an island and sits on one herself.

"So," Clary starts looking around. "Where am I, exactly?"

Isabelle raises an eyebrow but answers without question. "Brooklyn, New York." When Clary's mouth falls open, Isabelle narrows her eyes. "Where did you think you were?"

Clary looks around again with disbelief. "This is a joke, right?" Her gaze returns to Isabelle who looks just as confused as Clary feels. "Will paid a bunch of people to make me think I'm suddenly somehow in New York, right?" When Isabelle gives no reaction, Clary's whimpers. "Right?"

Isabelle pauses before standing up and walking over to a cupboard. From it, she produces two glasses and fills them with water. When she returns to the island, she pushes a glass towards Clary. "What's your name?"

"Clarissa," Clary answers and stops before saying her last name. She didn't yet know how well she could trust this girl. "You can call me Clary."

"Well, Clary," Isabelle says. "I don't know who Will is and I don't know where you thought you were before this, but you're in New York. I'm not lying and nobody paid me to say anything. This is really Brooklyn, New York."

Clary bites her lip and lets her fingers rap on the island top with nervousness. "What day is it?"

"September fourth."

"What..." Clary trails off unsure of how to ask the next question. "What year is it?"

Isabelle pauses but then slowly answers. "It's 2018."

"Oh lord." Clary nearly falls out of her chair. There is no possible way in hell that Isabelle is telling the truth. It was December first, 1878. Right?...

"Clary?" Isabelle asked noticing the girl's distant gaze. She felt like throwing up. "Clary, are you okay?" She stands up and walks over to the redhead.

"Yeah," Clary finally says as Isabelle reaches her. Her voice comes out uneven and she clears her throat. "Perfectly fine."

"Well, do you need a place to stay?" Isabelle asks not leaving Clary's side. "My parents are out of town for a couple weeks so it's just me and my brothers right now and I'd be more than happy to let you stay."

"Yeah," Clary nodded slowly figuring that she had no better option. She needed to figure out why this girl was lying and where she really was. "That'd be great, thanks."

"No problem," Isabelle starts to walk back around the island when something seems to occur to her. "School starts in two days, how old are you?"

"I'm sixteen," Clary answers and Isabelle smiles.

"Wonderful. Don't worry, I'll take care of you." She takes a sip of her water no longer seeming to notice the look of absolute terror on Clary's face.

* * *

A few hours later, Clary lays in the room that Isabelle had shown her to before. She stares up at the ceiling and her mind wanders. Will would surely not take a prank this far, even he would stop once Clary started to really freak out. Still, these things on her legs and this strange shirt on her torso make her feel sick with confusion.

The insanity of the mere idea that she had somehow traveled to not only a different country but also a different century, made Clary sure that something was off, though. She knew that there was no such thing as this terrible black magic and yet her heart leaped a little at the thought that Isabelle had been telling even a bit of the truth. What if she was a hundred and forty years in the future? What if she really was no longer in London?

Clary was torn from her thoughts when she heard voices down the hall. One was Isabelle, the other was distinctly male... and mad. As the voices neared, Clary sat up in her bed trying to listen to the actual words being said.

"She was like a lost puppy, what was I supposed to do, Alec?" Isabelle yells. "I couldn't just leave her there and then after I let her in there was no way I was kicking her out again."

"This is not up for discussion," the male voice, likely Alec, says. "You let a stranger into our home without consulting me at all. The least you could've done was text or call me asking if it was okay." _Text?_ Clary thought. Every word she heard from these people made her more confused.

"Alec-" Isabelle starts to argue again, but the door to Clary's room is thrown open. A tall man with black hair and vivid blue eyes enters. Isabelle right behind him. Clary stands immediately and the boy eyes Clary up and down. She does the same to him and can't help but think of how much he reminds her of the Herondales. Yes, the hair and eyes make her think of Will but this boy looks more like Will's younger sister than anything. Cecily was beautiful and Alec is certainly good looking.

"Hi," Clary says after the awkward silence goes on for another few moments. Alec raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms over his chest.

"I heard that my idiotic sister offered to let you stay here," Alec states. All Clary can do is nod. "Who is your family? Where do you live?"

"I-" Clary closes her mouth wondering just how crazy they'll think she is if she says that she lives in London, England. She thinks for so long that Alec becomes annoyed and continues anyway.

"Listen, being the eldest I am in charge while our parents are away, and I'm sorry to tell you that you can't stay here. We can't just let a strange person in." Alec looks almost remorse as he says the words. His eyes are hard, though, as he stares at Clary.

"I understand," Clary nods. "But I really don't have anywhere else to go. I honestly don't know how I wound up in New York. Let alone America..." Clary says the last part under her breath before continuing. "I'd be forever in your debt if you could just let me stay for a few days. I promise that I won't be any trouble at all."

"She's like five feet tall and barely a hundred pounds!" Isabelle exclaims. "How much room can she take up?"

Alec looks back and forth between the girls before giving in. "Fine, but she's your guest Iz and I expect you to take care of her. That means clothes, entertainment, food-" Alec cuts himself off. "Nevermind, I'll take care of her food."

Isabelle rolls her eyes but grins widely. "Thank you, Alec! You're the best."

"I know," Alec says straight faces. He gives Clary one more look before marching out of the room.

"Well, he's rather spritely," Clary says turning to Isabelle.

The girl waves a dismissive hand and sits down on the edge of Clary's bed. "You get used to him. He's nice after you've gotten to know him." Clary lowers herself beside Isabelle as the girl continues. "Tomorrow, you and I can go out shopping. I'm a bit bigger than you so you can't exactly continue to borrow my clothes. Then, we'll spend some time getting to know each other."

"Sounds great," Clary nods but she keeps on thinking about Tessa. The girl didn't like to shop much and that made the two just about best friends. Clary had a hunch that it wasn't going to be the same with Isabelle.

"While we're out, we can get you some other stuff so you don't die of boredom. What do you like to do?"

"Draw," Clary answers without thinking at all. "I love to draw."

Isabelle smiles warmly. "Then we'll get you some pencil and paper. The best."

"Sounds great," Clary laughs. The weight in her chest doesn't lift a bit.

 **Hey y'all! So this is sort of the chapter where the story begins to kind of start. Thank y'all for the reviews and favorites and follows. Please tell me what you think, I love hearing your thoughts on my story! Till next time!**


	3. When The Dead Are Alive

The next morning, Clary woke mildly confused. It took her a moment to remember what had happened the day before. She let her head fall back against the pillow as she shook her head trying to make everything disappear. This couldn't be real. It was all a dream. There was no way it was real. But then, she lifts her head, looks around, and finds that it was very real.

In another moment, there's a knock at the door. Clary calls for them to come in and Isabelle enters smiling. She places a new set of clothes on the dresser and stands near the edge of the bed. Today, she wears a short black skirt and tight pink top with heels to match.

"We're going to the mall soon, so get ready fast." When she reaches the door, she pauses with her hand on the handle. "And one of my friends is going to come with us, you're going to like him."

Clary flops back again when the door closes. She stays like that for a few minutes before getting up and getting dressed. It doesn't take her long to get dressed at all and she finds that the weird clothes she's forced to wear are far simpler than the dresses she used to wear. Still, they're weird.

Clary makes her way into the hallway and gets lost immediately. She groans wandering the halls and trying to remember how she had gotten to the kitchen the day before. Eventually, she turns a hall and sees another person down it.

"Excuse me," Clary squeaks and the man turns around. Her eyes go wide immediately and her lips part. "Will..." she says a tad too loudly. The boy cocks a single eyebrow and takes a step forward. His skin, his hair, and even his eyes are golden. If not for those three things, he would look like an exact replica of William Herondale.

"What?" The boy asks. His eyes rake over Clary's body and she suddenly feels self conscious of Isabelle's clothes.

"No," Clary says again, though this time it's quieter and more to herself. "You're blonde."

"Sorry to disappoint," the boy chuckles taking another step towards Clary. "Who are you?"

"Umm," Clary stutters. This guy looks absolutely nothing like Isabelle or Alec and she was having a hard time believing he could be related to them. Who was _he_? "I'm Clary."

"Right," he claps his hands together with recognition. "Alec mentioned you earlier. I suppose you're looking for Iz." He gestured for her to follow him. "Here, I'll take you." He started down the hall and Clary had to rush to catch up with him. "The name's Jace, by the way. I'm a friend of the Lightwoods."

"Lightwoods?" Clary questions to herself with a random jolt of fear. Jace doesn't seem to hear her.

"I've known them since I was a wee child," he says. "They're practically my siblings at this point."

"Oh," is all Clary can manage. She's still shaken by how similar Jace resembles Will. And the name that he said, Lightwood. There was no way that they could be related to Gideon and Gabriel. No possible way they're Lightworms.

"By the way," says Jace. "Good luck today when you're shopping. Izzy by herself can be a little hard to handle, but with Magnus..." he trails of shaking his head with a laugh.

"Magnus?" Clary questions. She doesn't get a moment longer to think about it as they round a corner and are met with Isabelle and a glittering man with black hair and yellow eyes. "Magnus!" It's not a question this time but an exclaim of joy and relief. The man looks up and he freezes. His eyes are the size of saucers and his jaw is practically on the floor.

"Not possible," Magnus whispers and Clary's smile falters. The man slaps himself in the face and blinks before looking at Clary again. Even Isabelle is giving him a strange look now.

Clary shakes her head and rushes over to her friend. "Stop that," she insists grabbing his wrist. Her smile returns as she looks up into his eyes. "I knew this couldn't be real. I knew that something was wrong and there was no way everything Isabelle said was true. You being here proves that!"

"You're not alive," Magnus says still looking like he's seen a ghost. "You can't be- it's- it's been more than a hundred years." His voice is so low that only Clary can hear it. At that moment, his head snaps up and he catches Jace's eye. His eyes go wide again and he pulls on Clary's wrist dragging her behind him. "You stay away from him!" He yells pointing at Jace. The golden boy throws up his hands but hardly looks surprised. Magnus glances back at Isabelle with worry. "And her- and- and-"

"Magnus..." Clary says quietly. Magnus' eyes go soft but there's still disbelief in them.

"I'm taking you home," Magnus states. He turns to Isabelle who is beyond confused. "She's an old family friend. She got into some trouble lately and I-" He shakes his head and starts dragging Clary toward the door. "I'm sorry. We can do this another time."

Magnus doesn't say a word as he pulls Clary after him. They get outside and enter one of those contraptions Clary had seen the day before. She looks around it confused as Magnus doesn't say a word. The thing starts to rumble and Clary jumps.

"What is this thing?" She asks.

"It's called a car," Magnus says and they start moving forward. It's like a carriage but more advanced.

"It's so weird." Clary feels the leather beneath her enchanted by all of it.

"It's actually pretty normal nowadays," Magnus says his voice sounding strained. He glances over at Clary and shakes his head. "How is it possible that you're here? That you're alive after what happened a hundred and forty years ago?"

"What happened a hundred and forty years ago?" Clary asks but it's only after the question comes out that she realizes what she's saying. "Wait, you mean to tell me that we're really in the year 2018? And is this actually Brooklyn, New York? Am I in America?" Magnus only nods. Clary's mouth gapes. "What?! How?!"

"I don't know!" Magnus exclaims angrily. "The last time anyone saw you was that secret Santa drawing party in the year 1878. The next day you went missing."

"Missing?" Clary looks out the window and watches the buildings fly by. "But all I did that night was go to bed, nothing else."

"Well, something happened and you disappeared. There had been no sign of a break-in and no one in the entire city of London said they saw you. We looked for you for years. Tessa, Jem, Will, your mom, even the Lightwoods were completely torn up about it. Will had no choice and he had to go to New York. After graduating from college, Tessa couldn't even bear to stay in London because all she did was think about you and she ended up moving back to New York too. Jem and the Lightwoods were left in London after your mom died of grief in 1883." Magnus stops himself when he hears Clary gasp beside him. He looks at her to see tears in her eyes. He shakes his head solemnly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to just put all that on you, I just can't believe that you're here."

"Well, what about you?" Clary yells back trying to keep the tears at bay. "How are you still alive and still looking twenty?"

Magnus opens and closes his mouth like a fish until he finally answers. "I don't know how to answer that."

"What does that mean?" Clary exclaims as they stop moving beside a tall building. Magnus gets out of the car and opens up Clary's door for her. She rants at him the moment the door is open. "I just woke up almost a hundred and forty years past the time that I know. I'm in an entirely new continent with no clue on how I got here. The very least you can do is explain to me just how you are still alive after all this time. You might not know why I'm here but you've got to know why you're here!"

Magnus doesn't say a word as they walk up several flights of stairs. He unlocks a door and ushers Clary inside before locking the door behind them and promptly turning to the red-headed girl. A kitten mews as it walks about the apartment.

"I'm a warlock. I'm immortal," he says the words like Clary should believe them. All she does is raise her eyebrows. Magnus shrugs and raises one hand. "Care for something to drink?" He flicks his wrists a couple times and Clary turns to the kitchen to find a cup is floating towards the fridge where a device turns on and fills it with a bit of ice and then water. Clary's jaw drops. When the cup is set down on the counter, Magnus speaks. "Magic exists, biscuit, and I have it."

"What- how-" Clary stumbles back until her legs hit the couch. Magnus makes no move toward her clearly seeing how frightened she is.

"I'm sorry I never told any of you, Clarissa, but it's not exactly something that comes up in everyday conversation and I always have to be careful of who I share this secret with." He walks forward then but only a few steps. "I'm telling you now because I know that you must be freaking out and I want to do everything I can to help you get through this. I'm going to take care of you."

Clary swallowed hard knowing that she had an inability to stay mad at Magnus. She merely nodded and let herself take a step forward so she wasn't right against the couch. "It's okay, I'm not mad at you." Magnus closes his eyes with relief. "But... I'm scared, Mags, I don't know how to survive in this world. There's so much new stuff and I don't know anything. I miss Will and Jem and Tessa. I miss my mom." Tears begin to well up in Clary's eyes and Magnus rushes forward to gather her in his arms.

"I know, sweetie, I miss them all the time." He holds her tight and her tears soak into his shirt. "It won't get easier any time soon. I've lived long enough and lost enough to know that."

Clary nodded against him. After a couple of minutes, she pulled away and wiped at her eyes. She sat down on the couch and Magnus followed. It was then that Clary remembered the name Jace had said when he was bringing her to Isabelle and Magnus. "Are the Lightwoods-" Clary starts unsure of how to finish. "I mean, Isabelle and Alec, are they Lightwoods? Jace said something and I- are they related to Gideon and Gabriel?"

Magnus lets his hand rest of Clary's knee. He takes a big breath and nods. "Gabriel is their great-great-great grandfather." Clary's eyes shoot up. "I bet you'll never guess who their grandmother is." He lets Clary think a moment before answering with a smile. "Cecily Herondale."

Clary's mouth opens and she laughs. "No way!" Her mind goes back to when Will seemed so mad the last time she saw him and she pieces it together. "I guess they started dating around 1878?"

Magnus laughed nodding. "Indeed they did."

"And Jace..." Clary trails off hoping Magnus can guess her next few words. He does, but his smile drops and is replaced with a frown.

"Jace's last name is Herondale. He is the great-great-great grandson of Will and..." Magnus pauses. "Tessa."

"Tessa?" Clary can hardly process that. "But she was with Jem."

"Not everything is meant to be," Magnus shrugs. "After Tessa decided to go back to New York, she met with Will again and they got married. Jem could never bear to leave London, not even for their wedding."

Clary stares at her hands. "I can't help feeling like that's my fault."

Magnus wraps an arm around Clary and squeezes. "You were beloved, darling, and that certainly played a factor in who stayed and who left, but in the end, it was their own decisions and their own hearts that chose. Tessa loved you too much to stay and Jem loved you too much to go."

Clary nods and wipes at her eyes. She takes a moment to regain her composure. "So, I guess I have a lot to catch up on." She decided to change the subject and Magnus nods. "What's going to happen now?"

"Now?" Magnus repeats thinking for a bit. "Now, you're going to live the life of a normal teen in the twenty-first century. On Thursday, I'm sending you to high school."

 **Hi again! So, I realize that I'm updating rather fast, but this story is progressing, and going to keep progressing, at a somewhat slow pace so I want to get as much of it out there as possible so we can get to the action. Anyway, hope y'all liked this chapter. Please review, favorite, and follow! Love y'all!**


	4. When People Are Toxic

Magnus takes Clary out and they wind up in a place called a mall. They've been to about three stores and have half a dozen bags when Clary hears a fairly familiar voice. Magnus is practically glued to a rack of dresses as the person approaches.

"Clary," Alec says crossing his arms. He glances at Magnus and raises an eyebrow. He clears his throat loudly and Magnus jumps. He whirls around and gives an award-winning grin when he sees Alec.

"Alexander," Magnus beams. "My darling, what are you doing here?"

"Lightworm? Really?" Clary questions not caring if Alec hears. Over the years, Will had gotten her to start calling Gideon and Gabriel Lightworms too and, well, old habits die hard.

"What did you just call me?" Alec questions. Magnus pushes Clary back with a nervous chuckle.

"She doesn't know what she's saying. She's delusional," he pulls Alec away a little but they're still close enough that Clary can hear them clearly. "What are you doing here?"

"Isabelle and Jace told me all about you taking off with the stray over there," he glances in Clary's direction but only for a moment. "They were both a little worried and after everything I heard, so am I."

"Trust me," Magnus says. "Everything is fine. Clary really is an old friend of mine and I was just utterly shocked to find her with Isabelle. She's been going through a bit of a rough patch lately and now that I've finally found her I plan to fix her."

Alec looks suspicious but nods. "Okay, well I'm sorry that you have to deal with that. If you need help or anything at all, let me know."

"Actually," Magnus smiles hopefully. "I plan on sending her to school, the same school you guys go to, and I need someone to keep an eye on her."

"Of course," Alec says. "I'll talk to Isabelle and-"

"Actually," Magnus says again cutting him off. His voice has raises an octave now. "I need you to keep an eye on her, but I need you and Isabelle and Jace to stay away from her. I can't explain why, not yet, but it would be what's best for her."

Alec glances at Clary again. He looks worried and Clary understands why: Magnus sounds a bit like a lunatic. "Okay, I can do that. I can't make any promises, but I'll try to keep Izzy from her. I'll just punch Jace in the balls if he tries anything."

Magnus laughs and hugs Alec. "Thank you so much. I love you, Alec."

Alec smiles happily. "Love you too, Magnus." With that, the Lightworm leaves and Magnus returns to Clary.

"You are infatuated," Clary says noticing Magnus' loving smile.

"I love that boy," Magnus says simply as he casually goes back to shopping. "Even if he is a Lightworm."

Clary laughs and glances back at where Alec had disappeared to. "How did he even know where you were?"

Magnus shrugs pulling out a floral top and putting it up against Clary's torso. "Probably SnapMaps or something."

"What maps?" Clary questions.

Magnus merely shakes his head. "Let's start with what a phone is before we get to SnapChat. You have a lot to learn, biscuit."

* * *

The rest of that day consisted of a lot of what Clary had to learn. Magnus told her all about cars, cell phones (and texts), and much of the latest technology. It was a lot for her to take it in but she figured his main goal was for her to not look completely out of place the next day when she would start school. She even learned the word for the short pants she was being forced to wear- they're called shorts. She couldn't help thinking that there could've been a more original name used.

Magnus gave Clary her own phone and put his number in it. He showed her how to use it and she proceeded to spend another hour completely figuring it out. Who knew that so much could happen in a hundred and forty years?

The sun is almost setting when someone suddenly throws open the front door. Clary is sitting in the room that Magnus so graciously is providing for her and Magnus himself had left to get something about a half hour before. Clary stands up from her bed as someone calls out into the apartment.

"MAGNUS BANE!" The voice is deep and husky. Clary glances around her doorframe to see Will's grandson standing in the living room. He looks aggravated as he paces the floor. He pauses momentarily to scratch the head of Magnus' cat before continuing his pace. "MAGNUS! GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Clary stays half hidden in the doorway as she studies the features of the man before her. His blonde curls laid lazily on his head and tight shirt showed off his defined muscles. There was something about the way he held himself that made her think of Tessa rather than of Will. She couldn't believe he was a descendant of two of her closest friends. It made her wonder whether he would even exist had she not gone missing. Would she have descendants of her own by now?

Clary is so sucked into studying Jace and wondering about what could've been, that when he spots her she squeals. She rushes back into her room hoping that he hadn't seen her. Of course, he had, and he entered the room moments later.

"Where's Magnus?" Jace asks not even questioning the fact that Clary was spying on him.

Clary shakes her head. "I don't know, he went out to get something. He should be back soon."

Jace seems to consider this before sighing and looking around the room. Clary had hardly been there a day and so she had yet to get the chance to decorate. The place was completely blank of any personality.

"Nice place," Jace comments completely monotone. His shoves his hands in his pockets and looks back at Clary. She wonders if he sees the recognition in her eyes. She can't help the way she looks at him, though, he just looks so much like Will. "How do you know Magnus?"

"Like he said," Clary answers easily. Magnus had told her what to say if anyone were to ask this exact question. "We're old family friends. I've known him just about forever." Jace nods and sits on the edge of Clary's bed. She furrows her eyebrows noticing how manners had changed over time. "You know, if Magnus comes back and you're in here I'm pretty sure he's going to kill you."

Jace smirked at that and leaned back on the bed. "Oh? And why do you say that? Is he overprotective?" The way his one eyebrow raises as though he's taunting her makes Clary's breath hitch. There's something about this boy that makes her uneasy.

"Yes," Clary responds. "But I don't think you know entirely why Magnus is overprotective of me."

Jace rolls his eyes. "I've known Magnus for a number of years. He's overprotective of Izzy too but that doesn't stop her from doing a whole lot of stuff."

Clary merely shakes her head. "No, it's definitely not the same as with Izzy."

Jace opens his mouth to speak but the front door shuts first. Jace doesn't even move to stand up as Magnus enters the room. The moment his eyes land on the golden boy, his face goes slack.

"Out," he growls and Jace's smirk grows. "Now."

"Oh come on, Mags," Jace stands and approaches the other man. "You've known me for years."

"Exactly," Magnus' eyes are practically burning. "So I expect you to take me seriously when I say that if I ever find out you've even glanced in Clary's direction, I will not hesitate to damage that pretty little face beyond repair."

Jace's smirk wavers. "Ouch, Bane. We were just talking." Jace glances back at Clary before exiting the room. He pauses out in the living room and turns to the livid Magnus. "It was you I needed to speak with anyway."

"About?" Magnus asks. His arms are crossed and he stands firmly in front of Clary's doorway.

"Alec," Jace says glancing sheepishly at the door. "You promised you were going to help me out with the upcoming birthday of his."

"I am and I will," Magnus insists. He motions for Jace to leave and the boy starts to go. "We can discuss this soon, Jace." With that, Magnus closes the door behind the boy and locks it with the magic of his fingers. He plops down on the couch and Clary comes out to join him.

"I don't entirely understand why you're so against me speaking to him or the Lightwoods," Clary says.

"You're not ready," Magnus says moving his fingers at a bar that it's in the corner of the room. A drink starts making itself. "You have to understand that it's in your best interest right now, biscuit. I want you to settle into your new society and I don't think having those three as reminders will help. I want you to recover from the shock of this all because I know for a fact that there's no possible way you're not a little depressed or messed up- I will be getting you a therapist. And lastly, I want to figure out what exactly happened to you. Once these three things start to happen, you can speak to them, but for now, I'd prefer it if you kept your distance."

Clary understands his reasoning, but she's also a little upset with Magnus for not thinking she can handle. She nods, though, not wanting to cause a fight of any sort. Instead, she squeezes Magnus' hand and asks him a question. "As a warlock, you can teleport, right?" Magnus nods. "Then, can I see my mom's grave?"

* * *

A short time later, Clary stands in London. The graveyard before her seems so oddly terrifying in the moonlight. Magnus stands quietly beside Clary as she stares down at the tombstone that reads her mother's name. She runs her fingers over the letters letting them become indented in her mind.

"Hi, mom," Clary says squatting down so she's level with the stone. "It's been a while, or so I hear it has been. I feel like I just saw you the other day, but I've been told otherwise. I'm sorry that you had to go through so much all those years ago. I don't know what happened, but I didn't mean to leave. I never asked to be thrust into the future with no explanation whatsoever." Clary sighs at places her forehead against the rough stone. She closes her eyes tight as a few tears fall on the grass. "I promise that I'll try and visit you often. You will always be in my heart. You and everyone else." She kisses her fingers before placing her hand over her mother's name and standing up. Magnus sets a hand on her shoulder.

"If you want," he says cautiously. "Jem is here too." He gestures a couple of rows down and Clary looks over to see 'James Carstairs' inscribed on another tombstone. Clary stares at it for a moment but makes no move to walk over.

"I'm not ready to say bye to him too," she finally says looking back up at Magnus. "Not yet."

Magnus nods. "Of course, let's head home now. You have a big day tomorrow." Clary nods and Magnus creates a portal for them. They both step through and are back in Magnus' apartment in a flash.

Clary's head is pounding as she walks back to her room. She's not sure how long it'll take her to get used to Magnus having magic, but it's going to take a while. When she reaches her door, she turns back around to Magnus who is staring down at his cat with a distant look in his eyes.

"Magnus," Clary says. His head turns up to her slowly and his eyes stay distant. "Where are Tessa and Will?"

"Tessa..." Magnus trails off uncertainly. "Wasn't buried and I can bring you to Will when you feel that you're ready." Clary nods but before she can enter her room, Magnus stops her. "Oh, and I almost forgot. The reason that I went out earlier was to get you this." Magnus takes a bag from the kitchen counter and hands it over to Clary. She opens it to find a sketchbook and a set of pencils.

"Thank you," Clary smiles. "This is everything. Thank you so much."

"I thought you'd like that," Magnus says clearly happy to see her happy. "After you went missing, your room was searched and we found all your drawings and paintings." He looks down at the floor and his eyes grow red. "The one that was addressed for Will... he loved it. He treasured it and took it to America with him. In fact, after your mom passed away, Tessa took the rest of your drawings with her to America. They remembered you through those."

Clary thought back to the painting she had done for Will. It warmed her heart to know that he still got it even if she wasn't able to give it to him herself. "I'm glad. Most of those drawings were private, but if they helped the others get through it then I'm glad they found them."

Magnus nodded and Clary went into her room. She changed into her pajamas and sat on her bed with the brand new sketchbook open in her lap. The pencil in her hand felt foreign and her mind went blank when she tried to think of what to draw. Nothing happened as she set pencil to paper and eventually she fell into a deep sleep with the paper still blank.


	5. When School Starts

"Okay, what's your name?" Magnus asks Clary for the hundredth time as they sit in his car outside the high school Clary is supposed to start at.

"Clarissa Bane," Clary replies easily. "I am your niece and moved here from California after some family drama. Which I will proceed to add is personal if anyone asks further questions."

Magnus nods proudly. "Good. If you have any questions at all just text me. Or if it's an emergency ask to go to the nurse's office and I'll come and take you home."

"Magnus, I'll be fine," Clary insists. "It's just high school. I went to high school before, remember?"

"I know, but this is going to be very different from a high school in London 1878. I don't think you fully realize what you're getting yourself into right now."

"Magnus," Clary turns her body to face him fully. "I will be perfectly fine. You taught me how to text and if I really need to I'll go to the nurse's office. I sincerely doubt that you'll be seeing or hearing from me until the school day is over, though."

Magnus nods though his eyes are filled with worry. "Alright, well get in there, darling. Make some friends, have fun, and I'm begging you to stay away from the Lightwoods and Herondale."

Clary opens the car door. "I will. They kind of unnerve me now that I know. Especially with how much Jace looks like Will." Clary pauses as she has flashbacks to hanging out with Will. If in a life or death situation she was forced to choose who her best friend was in their group, she'd say it was Will. _Was_ being the key word there. Clary blinks and gets out of the car. "Bye, Magnus."

"Bye, biscuit. Good luck!"

Clary closes the door and Magnus drives away. She takes a deep breath and starts forward. People mill about all around her. They call out to one another as they spot friends they haven't seen all summer. They're laughing and yelling and complaining about the classes they have. They're acting oddly similar to the sort of teens that Clary knew and was used to. Truly it seemed the only thing that really changed was the technology and the way they dressed. She would be fine here, so far it looked like it wouldn't be too hard to fit in after all.

As Clary enters the school, her heart starts racing. The only people she knows in the entire building she plans to avoid as much as possible. She tightens her grip on the backpack that Magnus had gotten her yesterday as her nerves spiral out of control. She keeps walking despite wanting to run and remembers then that Magnus told her she had to go to the office first since she was new. She finds her way to the main office with little problem and is greeted by a receptionist that already looks like she wants the school year to be over.

"Hi," Clary says. "My name is Clary Bane and I was told to come to the office first thing. I just moved here."

"Of course," the woman says. She goes through some paper before pulling out a sheet with Clary's name on it. "Your guardian has already done all of the paperwork so we're just going to have one of the students show you around today so you're not completely lost here. He should be here momentarily." The woman smiles up at Clary before promptly looking back down at her computer screen.

Clary sighs and goes to sit in one of the ugly chairs. After a couple of minutes, the door opens and a boy with brown hair and glasses enters. He looks around before his eyes land on Clary.

"Are you Clary Bane?" He asks. Clary nods and he sticks out his hand for her to shake. "My name's Simon Lewis. I'll be your guide for the day." Clary stands and shakes Simon's hand. He seems nice enough and he doesn't remind her of her past, she supposes that he'll do fine for a new friend.

"Nice to meet you, Simon," Clary says. Simon leads them both out of the office as a bell rings somewhere overhead. Clary's head whips up to find the source but she sees nothing. She does her best to hide her surprise not sure if that bell is a totally normal thing.

"So, what's your schedule?" Simon asks as they walk through a hallway. The number of students walking around starts dwindling greatly as they all make their way to class. "We'll start with where your first class is and go through it and then I can show you the library and a couple other places."

Clary looks down at the paper that lists all her classes and teachers. "First..." she trails off trying to make sure that she's reading the thing right. "I have World History." _Perfect_ , Clary thinks. Learning a bit about what she's missed in the past hundred and forty years is going to help her greatly.

"Alright," Simon looks down at the paper. "In room 212, that's just down here." He steers to the right. Another bell rings and Clary nearly jumps out of her skin. Thankfully, she doesn't think Simon noticed.

They walk around the school for the next couple of hours taking occasionally pauses in the tour. Clary ends up learning that Simon actually seems like a pretty nice guy. He said he's in a band and that little tidbit reminded Clary that she has no idea what music even is anymore. With how much everything else has changed, she's sure that the music people listen to now is probably insane too.

Towards the end of the day, Clary spots Isabelle Lightwood walking with a couple of people during what she has learned is called a 'passing period'. She watches the girl for a little before speaking to Simon.

"What do you know about her?" She asks gesturing to the raven-haired beauty. "Isabelle."

"Lightwood?" Simon's eyebrows shoot up. "How do you know who Isabelle Lightwood is?"

"I met her the other day when I was walking around town."

"Oh, well, she's pretty nice but she's also really popular." Simon thinks a moment. "She's Isabelle Lightwood, there isn't a way to really describe her, you just have to know."

Clary laughs a bit. "That kind of sounds like Gabriel." She smiles imagining how the boy was so crazy in such an indescribable way. He could be nice at times but you had to really know him.

"Huh?" Simon raises an eyebrow.

"Nothing, sorry I was thinking about something else." Clary reminds herself not to speak about her old friends. It'd be bad if people started asking questions. "What about Jace Herondale? What can you tell me about him?"

At that, Simon stops walking. He turns to Clary with worry like she had just fallen down a flight of stairs and onto a bed of nails. "Jace Herondale?" Clary nods. "The God? The school's resident golden boy? Don't tell me you met him walking around town too."

"No," Clary shakes her head. "I- don't quite know how to explain how I met him. I was at Isabelle's house and-"

"You were at Isabelle Lightwood's house?!" Simon is practically yelling. He lowers his voice when he realizes this. "Wow, you really move fast, don't you? I mean, it's not every day that you meet and befriend two of the most popular people in the entire school."

"I wouldn't say that I befriended them, I'm actually not allowed to talk to them." The words come out before Clary can stop herself and Simon raises a questioning eyebrow.

"Why not?"

"It's... complicated. I'm sorry, I think I've said a bit too much." Clary keeps walking forward chewing on her lip nervously. "Where were we in the tour?"

"Umm," Simon catches up and his voice raises an octave. "I'm still a little stuck on the whole thing about you not being allowed to speak to Isabelle or Jace." It's then that something occurs to him. "Wait a minute, Clary _Bane_ , you're related to Magnus Bane aren't you?"

"Yeah, how'd you-"

"Magnus is dating Alec. He picks him and Isabelle up from school all the time." Simon shakes his head like he's had an epiphany. "Of course, that's why you can't speak to them. Magnus knows Jace's reputation and he doesn't want you around him. Why he doesn't want you around Isabelle is beyond me."

"That's not-"

"That makes a lot more sense now," Simon doesn't even hear her start to protest. "I just didn't know that Magnus had any relatives. How are you two related?"

"I'm his niece," Clary mumbles.

"Niece? Huh, didn't know he has siblings. So, what are you doing in New York? I mean, where did you live before coming here?"

"I was in California. I was moved out here to stay with Magnus after some... family problems."

"Gotcha," Simon nods. "I won't ask more unless you want to tell me." Clary smiles thankful for how polite Simon is.

The rest of the school day goes by in a flash and Clary soon finds herself walking out of the school to find Magnus' car. She's talking with Simon still when she spots Magnus waiting for her. Before she leaves, she turns to Simon and takes out the phone that she's still a little unsure about using.

"Magnus is here already, why don't you give me your number so we can keep in touch?" She hands the phone over to Simon hoping he'll know what to do with it.

He smiles taking her phone and does, in fact, seem to know what to do. "It was nice meeting you, Clary. I hope you die too badly here. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye," Clary waves back at him as she joins Magnus by his car. He gets in the front seat when she reaches him.

"Made a friend?" He asks.

"I did, actually," Clary says happily. "His name is Simon, and before you ask, I didn't say a single word to Isabelle, Alec, or Jace."

"Thank you for respecting that rule, biscuit." Magnus begins to drive away as Clary looks out the window. She locks eyes with Isabelle and immediately turns her head away. Now that she knows, she sees Cecily and Gabriel in her too.

* * *

Late that night, Clary wakes from her short sleep with a jolt. It had taken her long enough to actually manage to fall asleep and shortly after she did her mind was filled with dreams of her old friends. She sits up and grabs the sketchbook Magnus had gotten for her. She stares down at the blank sketchbook in front of her with aggravation. There are two things she would like to do: sleep or draw and neither is coming to her. She's about to give up when she hears Magnus' voice somewhere in the apartment. Clary shuffles to her door and presses her ear against it to try and hear better.

"I know that, Jace. Don't you think I know that?!" It sounded like Magnus was speaking on the phone because Clary didn't hear another voice but Magnus still replied. "We're in the same boat right now, you just need to realize that I have a lot of other things on my plate that don't involve Alec. I care about the boy, I love him and I want to celebrate his eighteenth birthday to the max, but I have a sixteen-year-old girl under my care that has been through a lot in the past few days." There was another pause before Magnus' voice became frantic. "No! You will not do that nor will you tell Izzy that. Just leave the details to me, okay? I'm sure I can manage to throw a party as long as you get off my balls about it." Another pause. "Great. Wonderful. I will speak to you later, Herondale." With that, Magnus didn't speak further, but Clary heard the sound of a glass clinking and then someone sitting on the couch. She hesitated before opening her door and walking out.

"Hey," Clary says. Magnus jumps but quickly settles down again. Clary sits beside him. "Everything okay?"

"What are you doing up?" Magnus asks. "You have school in the morning."

"I couldn't sleep. Listen, I heard that conversation, Mags. What's going on?"

Magnus sighs and takes a sip of his drink. He doesn't speak for a long while but ultimately answers Clary's question. "September twelfth is Alec's eighteenth birthday. Jace, being like a brother to him, decided that he wanted to throw him a huge surprise party and enlisted me for help. Well, as the day nears Jace becomes more and more anxious about it and now that I have you to take care of, my focus is split."

"You don't have to be so worried about me, Magnus," Clary says. "I'm still pretty distraught over the whole thing, but I'm fine just by myself. You don't need to change your entire life to fit around me."

"Oh, biscuit." Magnus puts a hand against Clary's cheek. His eyes are sad and his voice is soft. "I do. I do because whatever happened to you isn't just about you. We need to find out what happened to prevent it from happening again. At some point, I have some friends who are going to want to run blood tests on you, but for now, you just need to settle in."

"Fine," Clary sighs. "But I'm having a hell of a time settling in. I haven't had a good night's sleep in days and I can't even draw. Do you realize how messed up I've got to be to not be able to draw?"

Magnus chuckles but nods solemnly after. "I know and I'm going to figure something out for you, I promise. For now, all I can say is hang in there. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here and I'll most likely understand."

Clary stands from the couch. "I know, thanks, Magnus. I'm going to head to bed now and maybe try to get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning." She turns and enters her room before Magnus can say anything else.

Clary tosses and turns in her bed well past midnight. She groans and lies flat on her back as sleep doesn't overcome her. She stays like this for a minute before her phone goes off. She picks it up and reads the message from Simon Lewis.

From Simon: _  
You asked what Isabelle and Jace were like.  
Well, I've come up with three words for the both of them.  
Isabelle: Outgoing, badass, confident.  
Jace: No one knows_

Clary cocks her head at the last message and writes back.

From Clary: _  
No one knows?_

From Simon:  
 _He's a mystery. You have to know him to know him.  
But if you wanted just a cover-of-the-book answer.  
Cocky, stubborn, smart-ass  
_

Clary grins to herself. She shakes her head setting aside her phone. "That sounds like Will alright," she mutters to the air. "You have to know him to know him."


	6. When Sneaking Out Then In

The next few days fly by. Clary finds herself alone often shedding tears at the thoughts of her friends. As time passes, the reality of the whole situation seems to start weighing down on her more heavily. She'll never see any of them again, not Tessa or Jem or Will or even the Lightworms. Not her own mother. The only person she has left is Magnus and she feels even guilty about that because now she is all he can focus on.

It's Sunday and Magnus is out doing something that pertains to the party on Wednesday. Clary lies on the couch stroking Magnus' cat, Chairman Meow. Her eyes are heavy with boredom tiredness and she wants to leave the house. She hasn't been allowed to go anywhere and there's very little that she can do in the apartment.

Clary sits herself up and pulls out her phone. She messages Simon asking him if he wants to go out and he responds a few minutes later saying that he knows a place they could go. Clary pulls on a pair of shoes and heads outside to wait for the boy. He pulls up in a car a few minutes later and tells Clary to hop in.

"This place has the best coffee," Simon claims as they head off. "It's called Java Jones. I'm actually a little surprised that Magnus hasn't taken you there yet."

"Well, Magnus doesn't know that I'm going out," Clary says. Simon turns to her with wide eyes.

"Oh lord," he groans letting his gaze return to the road. "I'm going to die after today, aren't I? Magnus is going to find out that I took you somewhere without his knowledge and he is going to kill me."

"It won't be that bad," Clary insists. "We just have to get back to the apartment before he does and everything will be fine."

"What time is he getting back?" Clary doesn't answer the question as Simon stops the car outside a little shop. He narrows his eyes turning to her. "What time is he getting back, Clary?"

Clary shrugs. "I... don't know?"

Simon throws his arms up in exasperation and exits the vehicle. Clary does the same and they walk into Java Jones. The place smells like coffee grinds. The two find an empty table and sit, the place is rather crowded and people are everywhere.

"So," Clary says turning to Simon. "What should we talk about?"

Simon is still glaring at Clary when he answers. "How about the fact that you just snuck out and I'm you accomplice?"

"No, that's too vulgar. Let's talk about this party that Magnus is throwing in a couple of days." Clary sits up straight with a smile on her face.

"Oh, you mean the one for Alec's birthday?" Simon says in recognition. "Everyone has heard about that. It's being thrown at the Herondale manor." Simon pauses for a moment before continuing. "Are you even going to be allowed to go? I thought you said you can't speak to the Lightwoods?"

"I don't know," Clary shrugs. "Magnus hasn't really mentioned much of it to me. I can't imagine that he would be happy if I did go, though."

"So, I assume that means you're going to sneak out and go anyway?"

Clary smiles widely. "You know me so well, Lewis."

Simon shakes his head with a smile but then freezes when he looks just past Clary. She narrows her eyes about to ask what's wrong when a voice speaks behind her answering the unspoken question.

"Well, if it isn't Simon Lewis and the infamous red-headed Bane." Clary doesn't turn around to the sound of Jace's voice and, when he walks around the table and unwelcomingly takes a seat, she stares at her hands and only her hands.

"What do you want, Jace?" Simon asks sounding annoyed.

From her peripheral vision, Clary sees the golden boy shrug. "This is my favorite coffee shop. Can a guy not walk into his favorite coffee shop, see a couple of people he knows, and then sit down with them?"

"Not you, no," says Simon. "You don't do anything without a purpose."

"Well, I guess it's always good to try out new things." He smirks and it's then that he notices Clary not looking at him. He raises an eyebrow at her. "How you doing, red? Been a little while since we last spoke."

"Aren't you supposed to be with Magnus right now?" Clary asks knowing that Jace is a big part of planning this whole party. She doesn't look at him, though.

"Yeah," Jace responds. "Magnus is outside, he should be in in a minute."

At that, Clary's head whips up. She looks at Simon with wide eyes and he gives her an _I told you so_ look. Clary stands up and glances at the door. "Shoot, not good. Not good."

"What?" Jace asks confused.

"I'm not supposed to be out of the apartment," Clary says. She looks around for an escape route. "If Magnus finds out that I snuck out he's going to murder me."

Jace smiles looking amused. "Well, this has taken an interesting turn of events."

"Shut up, Herondale!" Clary snaps at him. Jace raises both eyebrows clearly surprised by the fact that she used his last name on him. They had always called Will by his last name when he was being annoying, it was more of a habit than anything else. "If Magnus finds out you were speaking to me it's not going to be very pretty for you either."

"Crap, you're right." Jace scratches the back of his neck and then directs Clary to the back of the shop. "Go to the bathroom, I'll keep Magnus distracted and Simon will go get you when the coast is clear."

Clary isn't given time to respond when she sees Magnus approaching the door. She runs back to the bathrooms tripping over people and chairs. Eventually, she reaches the wall and stays there. She watches as Magnus finds Jace and the two sit down at a new table. Simon is still sitting at their own table and looks rather concerned as he watches Jace. After a few minutes, he looks away from Jace and to Clary. He waves her over and when they near Jace and Magnus, Jace suddenly points up in the opposite direction.

"By the Angel, is that-" He cuts himself off just pointing. Magnus turns to see who he's pointing and Jace uses his free hand to wave Clary and Simon on. When they reach the door, Jace drops his hand with a casual shrug. "Oh, no, it's not, nevermind." Magnus looks at Jace confused but says nothing.

When they get outside, Clary starts laughing. Simon only glares at her as they get into his car and she doesn't stop laughing.

"Pray tell," he says after a minute. "What is so funny?"

"That!" Clary exclaims gesturing to Java Jones. "What just happened. I haven't had that much fun in a while. I mean, the last time I really had any fun was..." Clary trails off as the memory pricks at the back of her eyes. It feels like it was just yesterday. "December, some number of years ago."

"Well, I'm glad that almost getting in a whole boatload of trouble was fun for you," Simon shakes his head starting the car. "But I'm bringing you home now and leaving you there. If you want to sneak out again, that's on you and I will not be a part of it."

Clary smiles knowing that Simon is the kind of person that probably has difficulty saying no. She'll get him to jailbreak her again, that much she's rather sure of. By the time they get back to the apartment, Simon has cooled off. Clary turns to him with a grateful smile.

"Thank you," she says. He turns to her surprised. "We only just met the other day and I already feel like I've made a close friend."

"Me too," Simon admits. "It's been fun hanging out with you, Clary."

"Likewise!" Clary leans over and gives Simon a quick hug before getting out of the car and running upstairs.

* * *

That night, Clary was nestled in her bed and under her covers. For the first time all week she almost felt like she could fall asleep easily. Almost being the keyword. Because after a little while, there was a tapping on the window. Clary sat up groggily and turned to the curtained window. She stayed silent for a moment unsure if the tapping had actually just been her imagination playing tricks on her. When the tapping came again, Clary jumped and slowly got out of her bed. She was reluctant to pull back the curtains, but when she did she only rolled her eyes and pulled open the window.

"What are you doing here?" She asks as she steps back allowing the boy to enter.

"Thank you," Jace says standing up and stretching. "For opening the window. It's a very cold night."

"You didn't answer my question," Clary says not looking at him. It physically hurt her to look at him.

"I was bored," he says simply. "And I thought to myself 'what can I do tonight?' Then, it hit me, I'll go and visit little Clary Bane." Clary rolls her eyes again and stares at the ground. "Alright," Jace says after a moment. "Fine, the real reason I'm here is that I'm intrigued."

"Intrigued?" Clary questions.

"Quite," Jace shoves his hands in his pockets and leans against the wall. "Isabelle picks you up off the street and takes you home, okay. Then, Magnus comes around and the two of you seem to know each other quite well. He claims that you're his niece and you're in New York because of some family issues." Clary nods as he tells the story of what's happened in the past week. "But!" He exclaims continuing. "Magnus goes on to ban you from seeing any of us. And I haven't been able to help but notice the fact that in every encounter we've had, you refuse to look at me." Clary didn't know what to say to that. She tries looking up at Jace, but the moment she does, she has to look away again. "See! What was that? I mean, why- What's your story, really? I'm not buying everything Magnus has told us."

"It's the truth," Clary says.

"Then why can't you look at me?" Jace questions. He steps in front of her so that she's staring at his shoes instead of the floor. "I'm going to figure out what's really going on."

"Why do you even care so much?"

"Because," Jace says. "You came out of absolutely nowhere and then you flipped one of my friend's world completely upside down. You, my dear, are a mystery and I love a good mystery." There was silence and then Jace put his hand under Clary's chin and lifted her head so that she was forced to look at him. Her eyes prick with tears and Jace seems to notice though he doesn't say anything. "You're going to Alec's party on Wednesday, right?" When Clary doesn't answer, Jace smiles anyway. "Good, I'll see you there." He winks and then he's gone.

Clary was left feeling utterly confused. Jace does something to her. Nobody has ever looked at her the way that he does and she likes it. At least, she thinks she likes it. She has only been in 2018 for five days and already she's getting the experience of a lifetime. Now, though, she was going to have to make sure she got to Alec's party.


	7. When Going To Parties

Wednesday during school Clary is more focused on drawing in her sketchbook than paying attention in class. It was a simple sketch of an eye and to any other person that's all it would look like, but to Clary, it was Magnus' eye. She didn't just draw, she drew with purpose. It's only when the bell rings at the end of seventh period that Clary is snapped back to reality. She rushes out of class and spots Simon in the halls. She catches up with him and the two walk out of the building together.

"So, are you going to the party tonight?" Clary wonders. She had actually heard a number of people talking about this party tonight.

"I don't know," Simon groans. "I'm not big into parties."

"Please come," Clary begs. "I need someone there for moral support."

"You're going?" Simon raises his eyebrows.

Clary chuckles. "Umm... yes?"

"From that response, I take it that you're sneaking out to go." Simon shakes his head when Clary doesn't deny it. "You realize Magnus will be there, right?"

"Shh," Clary puts her hand up to his face. "That's a problem for later." She sees Magnus by his car then and starts walking away. "See you later, Simon!"

The boy merely shakes his head. Clary gets into the car and they head back home. It's a quiet ride, but when they get back in the apartment Magnus speaks.

"How have you been feeling lately?" He wonders. "It's been just over a week since you... arrived here. How are you doing?"

"Better, I guess." Clary shrugs and takes out her sketchbook. "I finally started drawing yesterday but everything comes out looking like Tessa or Jem or London or a worm."

"A worm?"

"Lightworm." Magnus nods as if it should've been obvious. "I don't know how ready I am to visit Jem or Will's grave, but I want to."

"How about I take you this weekend?" Magnus suggests. "If you're feeling up to it, that is."

Clary nods. She turns to enter her room and then hesitates. "Magnus?" The older boy turns to Clary and cocks an eyebrow. "Do you think I could go to Alec's birthday party tonight? I think it'd be good for me to socialize more outside of a school setting and I really am feeling better... ish."

Magnus shakes his head. "I'm sorry biscuit, I just don't think you're ready for a 21st-century party. Not yet and definitely not _my_ kind of party."

"It's okay," Clary says. "I understand." She goes back into her room with one thought going through her mind: _Looks like I really am sneaking out tonight._

* * *

Magnus left the house around four. The party starts at seven and it is currently seven. Back in her time, parties were always formal events that you were punctual for, but Clary didn't know what they were like nowadays although Simon had mentioned that nobody is ever on time to a party unless they're insane. She texted Simon earlier asking for advice and he said to wear dress casual. Whatever that means. She ends up in a short black skirt and a light blue top. Now, she stands outside the apartment complex waiting for Simon to get her.

The two arrived at the party half past seven and it was already packed. The Herondale manor is perhaps just as incredible as the Lightwood manor, maybe even more so. When they're inside, though, Clary realizes what Magnus meant when he said that she wasn't ready for a 21st-century party. All around her was mayhem. People were talking and dancing and drinking. The beat was unrecognizable to Clary but a lot of other people seemed to like it. As Clary pushed through the thick crowd, she noticed that Alec's name was plastered basically everywhere. Balloons of every color sat against the ceiling and walls. Pictures of Alec were blown up and pasted throughout the halls. It was definitely a new kind of party for Clary.

"Hey," Simon yells over the music in Clary's ear. "I see a few of my friends, do you want to meet them?"

Clary looks over to where Simon is gesturing to see a few people that she doesn't know. She considers it but then shakes her head. Already she wants to get away from this crowd. "No thanks, I'll be fine for a little while on my own so you can hang out with them for a bit. Just text me later."

Simon nods and walks away. Clary looks around for a bit before deciding on one direction to head in. She maneuvers through groups of people for about a half hour before finding herself amongst a dwindling crowd. She keeps walking and is eventually all alone. At the end of the hallway, there's a large door. Clary pushes it open to find herself in a library far larger than even Magnus' apartment. When the door closes behind her, the music ceases and Clary smiles at the quiet bliss.

She walks through the library looking around curiously. There are pictures on the walls and Clary recognizes one of them as a portrait of Will's parents. She continues down that wall to find Will himself. Her heart throbs at the painting of the boy looking so much older than when she had left him. Just below the picture is a small golden plaque that read 'William Owen Herondale 1861-1937'.

Her mind flashes back to one of her favorite memories with Will. It had been his fifteenth birthday and the group snuck out to a party that they hadn't initially been invited to. They'd dressed up in their nicest clothing and tried to look as old as possible since the party wasn't meant for teenagers. Somehow they'd manage to leave the house without anyone noticing them. When they reached the party it took almost two hours before someone realized they didn't belong there. Clary didn't think she had ever run so fast for so long in her life. By the time they got back to Will's house, they were all out of breath and sweating but laughing at the same time. The rest of the night they'd joked around about the party and just danced around the house with one another.

"He grew up well," Clary mutters running her hand over his name as she's brought back to the present. There's a portrait of Cecily and so many other Herondales that Clary had never gotten to meet. Even Tessa is up there. It's only when Clary reaches the next wall, though, that her heart really hurts. In a gorgeous frame with a perfectly clear piece of glass over it, is the painting of London that Clary had done for Will. "Oh..." Her breath hitches at the sight. They had kept it, after so many years, it was still here and it fairly good condition too.

"Nice, huh?" The voice causes Clary to whirl around. It's Jace. Of course, it's Jace. When is it not Jace sneaking up on her nowadays? He strolls over to where Clary stands with his eyes pinned to the painting. "It's been in my family for generations."

"Do you know who did it?" Clary asks cautiously.

Jace points down to her own signature at the bottom. "C. Fairchild. It was a friend of one of my ancestors, William Herondale. There's actually a letter written on the back of this for Will. It was supposed to be a going away present, apparently." He shrugs turning to Clary. "At least that's what the story claims."

"Story?" Clary asks trying her best to stay calm. She knew there was a letter on the back, she wrote that letter. She still remembers exactly what she wrote.

Jace smiles nodding. "It's actually rather interesting." Jace picks up the painting from the wall and very gently sets it facedown on the floor. He takes off the back cover as he speaks. "So, this friend of Will's, whose name I cannot remember, painted this for him because he would be moving to America in a few months. Well, one day, this friend goes missing and nobody can find her. They searched everywhere but found nothing. What they did find were her paintings and drawings. William took this with him and one of their other friends, who ended up marrying Will, took the rest."

Clary squatted beside Jace as the message on the back of the painting was revealed. Magnus had told her this story days before but it was different to see the proof of it. "'To Will,'" Clary reads aloud.

 _To Will,_

 _I'm going to miss you. We all are, but you already know this. So, I just have one request for my dearest friend: don't forget about us. We won't ever forget about you._

 _Love,  
You know who (also, indirectly, Jem and Tessa I guess. I'm still the best though.)_

"Sounds like she really loved her friends," Clary says looking up to fend off the tears in her eyes.

"That's not even the half of it," Jace continues sounding all too cheery about this story. He quickly puts the back on the painting and hangs it up. "Here, I'll show you something." He leads Clary through the bookshelves until stopping at one and pulling out a book that Clary recognizes the title of. "The day before that girl went missing, Will and she and all their friends did a secret Santa drawing. Will pulled out her name and the next day the first thing he did was go out and buy this book because he knew she loved the author." Jace hands Clary _Anna Karenina_ by Leo Tolstoy. "It's a first edition. Ruined by the inscription inside, but still."

She opens up the cover with shaky hands and reads what Will had written.

 _For Clarissa,_

 _Merry Christmas, you wild child. I know that you loved_ War and Peace _so I thought you might like this too. You deserve all of London, but the best I can do right now is this book. Don't worry, I'll start earning more money in New York and then I'll come back and give you London._

 _Love,  
The one and the only William_

Jace takes the book back when Clary closes it and he puts it back on the shelf. "Of course, it's just a story and I don't know how true it is, but it's kind of interesting. I think it's rather obvious from those notes that the two had to have been in love."

At that, Clary can't help but laugh. Jace raises an eyebrow and she shakes her head. "I'm sorry, I'm just not getting a very 'love-y' vibe there. They were probably just best friends."

"He claimed that he would give her all of London," Jace points out. "What could be more romantic than that? Aside from perhaps all of Paris."

Clary didn't know why Paris would be more romantic, but she didn't question. Maybe France had become different in the time that she, well, skipped. "Romance isn't about the things that you give. You should want to give the world to your friends just because they're your friends and you love them, not because you want to marry them." Jace crosses his arms but said nothing as Clary continues. "Romance is looking at one person in one way and it's all the little gestures to show them you care. It's about the words you say and the sudden randomness of just loving that person." She pauses staring at the book. "At least, that's what romance used to be like."

"So what you're saying, is that I should buy California for Alec and I should hold open the door for the girl I like?"

Clary shrugs. "Well, you should be holding the door open for everyone, but essentially yes."

"Interesting approach," Jace says. His eyes bore into Clary so deeply that she has to turn and walk away from him to keep herself from bursting into flames. She ends up back by the wall of portraits and gestures to Will.

"So, that's the guy from the story?" She asks.

Jace follows her over and nods. "Yup, that's William."

"You know," Clary glanced back and forth between the portrait and Jace. "You look just like him."

Jace narrowed his eyes at Clary before studying the portrait exaggeratedly. After a moment he leans back and shrugs. "I don't see it."

"No, really," Clary insists. "If you were to just paint him gold then you two would be the same person."

"Really?" Jace looks at the painting again. Clary takes that time to really study him. He appears to be the perfect specimen, but being an artist Clary knows that everyone has their faults. She would just have to work to find Jace's.

When he turns to her again, Clary quickly looks away to avoid getting caught staring at him. It was then that the door to the library opened and Isabelle entered.

"Jace-" she started but saw Clary. "Clary? It's been forever! How are you?" She runs over and engulfs the red-head in a hug before she has time to react. "I didn't know you were here. Magnus said that you were at home."

Clary shrugs sheepishly. "I may or may not have snuck out."

Jace laughs while Isabelle shakes her head. "He'll kill you but I'm glad you're here. Anyway, I was coming to get you, Jace, because we're about to bring out the cake for Alec."

"Oh right," Jace starts forward and then pauses turning back to Clary. "Are you going to come? Magnus is going to be right in the center of the action so there is a high chance he'll see you."

"I'll come down in a bit. I'm just going to stay here and look at the portraits for a little while longer."

Jace nods and then he's gone with Isabelle. Clary turns back to the portrait of Will. She sighs looking at him.

"I miss you guys," she says. "And I can't believe that I'm really in the house of your great-great-great-grandchild. It's kind of unbelievable. I wonder if Magnus is ever able to figure out what happened to me if maybe he'll be able to send me back to 1878. But then, your lives wouldn't turn out the same, would they? You would still go to America, but that doesn't mean Tessa would. Everything happens for a reason, right? If my disappearance was for a reason then so be it. I'm sorry that I'm gone, but like I said on the painting: I will never forget about you. Or the others." Clary turns away from the portrait. She starts to head out of the library but after just a few steps her mind goes blank and everything turns black.


	8. When You Disappear To The Grand Canyon

Clary wakes to scolding heat. She sits up confused but her memories quickly rush back. She stumbles standing up and looks around in a panic. On either side of her are huge walls of rock, a flowing river is in the middle, and directly above her is the open sky. Clary pulls out her phone incredibly thankful to have it and checks the time. September fourteenth, eleven in the morning. She's only missed a day and a half, but that's the good news. The bad news is that she still missed any time at all and that she has no idea where she is. More bad news is that she has a dozen missed calls and texts from Simon and about a hundred each from Magnus.

Clary looks around just as her phone starts ringing. She answers it without checking who it is and is immediately being screamed at by Magnus.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" He yells and Clary has to pull her phone from her ear to prevent going deaf. "I've been calling you for over a day! Nobody has any idea where you are!"

"I don't know where I am either!" Clary yells back at him. "I was just walking and then all of a sudden everything went black and the next thing I know I'm waking up... HERE!"

"Where is 'here' exactly?" Magnus asks sounding less mad and more worried.

"I. Don't. Know." Clary separates the words with frustration. "I'm surrounded by walls of rock that stretch on farther than I can see." She huffs out a sigh just as she hears voices around the corner of the rock walls. Clary runs in that direction a little and sees a large group of people walking. "Oh, hold on! I found people." Clary lowers her phone and approaches the group. "Umm, hi, excuse me?" Everyone goes silent and turns to her. "Yeah, so, this is going to sound really weird, but could you please tell me where I am right now?"

The entire group looks confused and Clary supposes that that question was weirded than she thought because no one answers for a solid two minutes. Then, a woman steps up. "You're in the Grand Canyon, sweetie."

"The what?" Clary asks but then realizes that probably wasn't a good question to voice. She laughs nervously and starts backing away from them. "Kidding, thank you!" She runs off in the other direction as she raises her phone back to her ear. "Magnus, I'm in a place called the Grand Canyon."

"THE WHAT?!" Magnus screams and Clary has to pull her phone away again. "It's going to be impossible for me to find you in there! That place is hundreds of miles long!"

"I don't know what to tell you," Clary says. "I have no idea how I got here. I don't even know what the Grand Canyon is. All I know is that I'm sweating like crazy right now and I do not like it."

"I know, I'm sorry, biscuit. I'll try and find you as soon as possible." The line goes silent as Magnus thinks. "Actually, if I had something of yours I might be able to use my magic to track you, but I don't know where I could find something that you have a deep enough connection with."

"The painting!" Clary exclaims. "The one I did for Will before I went missing in 1878. It's in the Herondale manor in the library."

"How do you-"

"That's not important," Clary cuts him off before he can ask how she knows it's in the library. "What is important is that you can use that to find me. Please hurry, Magnus. I'm scared."

"I'll be there as fast as I can," Magnus promises. "Just hang in there, Clarissa." With that, he hangs up.

Clary sits down on the ground and leans back against the rock. She looks around realizing that this place is rather beautiful. A little way to the left of her is a cluster of trees and the rock walls are actually layered from what is likely to be years of erosion. Clary wishes that she had her sketchbook with her and figures that when she gets the chance, she's going to look this place up at home and draw it. For now, she'll just look.

Almost an hour later, there's strange warping noise, a bright light, and then Magnus. He looks around before his eyes settle on Clary. She jumps up and the two collide in a hug. Magnus doesn't waste another second before creating another portal and bringing them both back to the apartment. When they're back, he envelops Clary in another hug and doesn't let go even as he speaks.

"I'm sorry it took me so long, biscuit. It took a couple of tries before I got the right place and it was hard to convince Jace to let me borrow that painting without giving him the real reason as to why I needed it." Magnus releases Clary but keeps his hands on her shoulders and studies her as though to make sure she wasn't hurt. "Are you alright?"

Clary nods. "I'm fine, I just have no idea how that happened."

"Me neither," Magnus shakes his head. "Listen, I think it's time that I talk to my friend about running some tests on you. I know that you're still only settling down but now that this has happened a second time, I don't want to be taking any chances. We need to know what's happening."

Clary nods in agreement. "Okay."

"You've missed two days of school," Magnus says as he takes out his phone. "But tomorrow is Saturday, so I want you to take the weekend to relax. Just do nothing for the next two days and then on Monday you can go back." Magnus brings his phone up to his ear and looks at Clary expectantly. When she nods in understanding, he turns away and starts speaking over the phone.

Clary sits down at a stool at the kitchen island and opens her messages from Simon. There aren't too many but they sound panicked:

From Simon:  
 _Hey, I didn't see you after we split up at the party.  
Where'd you go?_

 _You weren't in school. Everything okay?_

 _So, Magnus just called me. He's freaking out.  
Where are you?!_

 _Clary, I'm getting worried and Magnus is about to call the cops.  
Call me ASAP_

Knowing that the boy is currently in class, Clary shoots him a text back.

From Clary:  
 _Hey, sorry I didn't respond.  
Something came up that I'm not really sure how to explain.  
But don't worry, I'm fine and I'm with Magnus._

Just as she hits send, Magnus comes back into the room. He shoves his hands in his pockets and stands in front of Clary silently for a minute looking nervous.

"I'm going to have to go out of town for a couple of days to meet with my friend before she comes here," he says. "It's just some business stuff that we have to settle. I don't want to leave you here alone but I can't bring you with. I'm worried that you'll disappear again."

"I'll be fine on my own," Clary says. "I'm sixteen. Who would you get to watch me anyway? The Lightworms? You don't want them around me and you would have to explain to them this whole situation if I end up disappearing for a few days without a trace."

"You won't be fine on your own," Magnus shakes his head. Before Clary can protest that he's wrong, he points to a square machine with a small handle and buttons that sit on the kitchen counter. "What is that?" Clary stares at it hard trying to think of what it could be used for and, from there, what it could be called. "Exactly. That is a microwave, Clarissa, and if you can't even tell me what a microwave is how on Earth are you going to survive on your own?"

Clary opens her mouth to deny it, but she knows he's right. "Okay, fine," Clary gives in. "But that still doesn't answer the question as to what you're going to do with me while you're gone?"

Magnus just shrugs. "I don't know, but I'll figure something out soon because I'm going to be gone Monday."

Magnus started to turn away when something occurs to Clary. "Wait, what do I tell people like Simon when they ask where I was yesterday? He was freaking out and I know he's going to ask questions."

Magnus pats Clary on the arm. "Biscuit, a lot of people were freaking out because I was freaking out. Which actually reminds me of something: you're grounded."

"What? Why?"

"You went to the party on Wednesday even though I specifically told you not to go." Clary opens her mouth but Magnus holds up his hand. "Don't even try to deny it. After you went missing I started grilling Simon and he told me where he last saw you. Then, Jace and Isabelle confirmed that you were there. Which, actually, you're grounded for even longer now because you spoke with them. What have you told you about them? You're not ready, Clarissa."

"Aren't I supposed to be the one that determines whether I'm ready?" Clary stands from her chair. "You can't control who I talk to, Magnus, and I actually think it'll help me if I start talking to them. Having them around is like having Will and Tess and Gabriel around. Seeing my old friends in them makes it feel like they're still here."

"That's not the kind of healing that you need to do," says Magnus. "You need to move on from them not pretend like they're still around by replacing them with their descendants. It's not healthy for you. Biscuit, I think you're in denial right now. You need to-"

"Shut up!" Clary bursts out cutting off Magnus. Tears prick at her eyes and she's aware that her face is red as anger boils into her cheeks. "Just shut up! I'm not in denial! I know that they're gone! I know I'll never see them again so I don't know why you have to keep on reminding me of that!" Clary storms into her room and slams her door shut as hard as she can. She collapses onto her bed and buries her face into her pillows as sobs wrack her body.

Her mind tells her that she'll never see them again, but her heart holds onto hope.

* * *

Magnus pulls up to the Lightwood manor an hour after school ends. He sits there for a moment collecting himself. After his fight with Clary, he wanted to see Alec but the boy was still in school, so he drove around for a couple hours before finally ending up here knowing that they were now home. He takes a deep breath and walks into the house without knocking. The Lightwoods are more than just friends (and boyfriend) to him, they're family. Just like Tessa, Will, Jem, and Clary were more than a century earlier.

When Magnus finds Alec sitting in the living room, he collapses down beside him. Alec wraps his arm around his boyfriend without question.

"Haven't found her yet?" He wonders quietly and begins to play with Magnus' hair.

"No, I did." Magnus sighs. Alec pushes the boy away so he can look at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"Then what's wrong?"

Magnus closes his eyes and leans forward on his knees. "I have to visit a friend in a few days and I can't bring Clary with because this friend is... well, I'd rather not have them meet because the business we need to talk about is rather messy. Anyway, Clary got really mad at me because I don't think she's ready for some things. It's just that she's been through so much and she's grieving right now but she doesn't want to admit it. She's in denial."

Alec pulls Magnus back into him and rubs his arm comfortingly. "Are you ever going to tell me what she's in denial about?"

Magnus doesn't look at Alec. He feels guilty about all these secrets. The secret that he's a warlock, that he's immortal, that the short little red-head he's taking care of it actually a time traveler who shouldn't even be alive.

"She lost some people," Magnus whispers. "She doesn't know how to move on."

"You know, if she really is in denial then chances are she's going to get pretty angry pretty soon. That's the next step, after all, anger." Alec looks down at Magnus. "You might want to start loosening the reigns on who she can and cannot talk to or else she'll lash out."

"This isn't any normal kind of grieving," Magnus says. "This is different, it's more intense. I'd prefer it if she just stayed in denial forever or skipped all the way to acceptance."

"That's not how it works," Alec says sternly. "And I have a feeling that if it's really as bad as you say, you might want to give her some more space. She's a teenager and teenagers tend to act out. So if anything, she's just getting ready to do something bad, crazy, or really stupid."

* * *

Jace is sitting in his house reading a book. His head is on the armrest and his legs are stretched out on the couch. He's torn from the fictional world when the doorbell echoes all throughout the house. Jace looks up confused. The only people that ever come over are Isabelle, Alec, and Magnus and they all just walk inside without announcing their presence. He gets up and walks through the house to the front door. When he opens it, his eyebrows shoot up at who's on the other side.

"Hi," Clary says flatly. This is one of the few times she has ever looked directly at him and, just like every other time, her eyes are filled with a strange nostalgia. "Can I come in?"


	9. When Running Away

_"Can I come in?"_ The question comes out more like a statement. Still, Jace nods and steps aside for Clary to enter. The look he's giving her makes it clear that he is utterly shocked by her sudden appearance at his manor.

"What are you doing here?" Jace asks as he shuts the door and follows Clary as she walks down the corridor. "You've been missing. Where have you been?"

"I got into a fight with Magnus," Clary answers without looking back.

"Enough said," Jace mutters almost sarcastically. Clary continues.

"After the fight, I was really really angry and I thought to myself 'What can I do to get back at that little prick?' I could go to Simon's, but Magnus would be more understanding than anything. I could go to the Lightwood's, that would surely make Magnus mad. But what tops every other option I had," Clary stops walking and spins around to face Jace. She smiles. "Is coming to you."

Jace scratches the back of his neck as Clary turns and continues walking. "Okay, but let's backtrack a moment. You've been missing for about two days now. Magnus has been freaking out."

Clary waves a dismissive hand back at him. "He found me earlier today. I was home for a few hours before deciding to leave again."

"Why did you decide to leave in the first place?" Jace asks. Clary enters the library, she's decided it's her favorite room in the manor.

"I didn't decide-" Clary starts and then she stops herself. She can't very well tell Jace what happened. She sighs and turns to him ready to lie through her teeth. "I just needed to get away for a little bit. Magnus was becoming overbearing. Okay? Happy?"

"Not really," Jace crosses his arms. "Magnus cares about you like you're actually his daughter and you running away repeatedly is making him upset which then makes Alec upset which then makes me upset."

"Cute," Clary smiles sarcastically. "It's like a little line of dominos." She throws down the small bag she packed on one of the tables and sits down in a chair. "Listen, I'm here now and you're not getting rid of me until Magnus can man up and apologize."

"What did he even do?" Jace sits at one of the other chairs.

"He said some stuff," Clary looks away from Jace uncomfortably. "He claimed that I'm in denial which is totally and completely false. He won't let me just live a normal life because he's worried I can't- that I won't-" Clary shakes her head. "Nevermind, you wouldn't understand it."

Jace scoots closer and shrugs. "Try me."

Clary looks up at him unsurely. Maybe if she just pretended she was talking to Will it would make her feel better. "I was born and raised in one place. The way that people acted and dressed and everything was different than how they do here. Magnus is worried about me fitting in. He thinks that I need to take my time with getting over what happened in my past and that I should stay away from 'triggers'. I just want to be normal."

"I thought you lived in California?" Jace says. "Surely it's not all that different from New York."

"I wouldn't know," Clary mumbles to herself. She sighs speaking louder. "It's just how I was raised. This past week I've been doing fine, though, but Magnus only ever sees the times when I'm crying or having dreams. He doesn't understand that I can still be getting over it while being normal too."

Jace scoots closer again but Clary hardly notices. She's too focused on being angry. "What have you been dreaming about?"

Clary thinks back to the first couple nights she was here. "My friends and family. I keep dreaming that they're still here and when I wake up I'm reminded that they're gone."

"They died?" Jace asks his voice getting lower and lower so it's just above a whisper.

Clary nods looking down at her hands. When she looks back up, she locks eyes with Jace who is now only a foot away. Her heart is pounding so hard that she's sure he can hear it from there. She's never felt this way about anyone before and she's not entirely sure what it is that she's feeling. During those first sixteen years of her life in London, she had never been interested in anyone. Having just her friends was more than enough for her. Tessa, Jem, Will... damn it Will. Clary's eyes snap away from Jace's because all of a sudden she's looking at Will again. She yells out aggravatedly and stands up from the chair pushing it back a few feet in the process.

"Damn it!" Clary yells as she walks away running a hand through her hair. "Damn it, damn it, damn it," Jace says nothing but when Clary turns back around he's standing. "I can't get him out of my head! Every time I look at you or Isabelle or Alec! I can't get any of them out of my head!"

"Him?" Jace asks. "Them? Who?"

"Magnus was right," Clary shakes her head as she starts pacing. "I'm not ready. Why does he always have to be right?"

"Clary." Jace grabs Clary's upper arms to stop her. Her eyes go wide when she's staring directly at him again. She's frozen there and on the spots that Jace touches her, she feels fire. Every intelligent thought goes from her head as the sound of only her heartbeat fills her ears.

"You're not Will," she finally whispers. Tears spill out over her eyelids and down her cheeks. Her head falls against Jace's chest as he nervously wraps his arms around her.

"You called me that the first time we met," Jace says. "Who's Will?"

"It doesn't matter." Clary shakes her head against Jace. She already feels bad for the tear marks she has undoubtedly left on him but she can't help and cry. "He's gone. He's dead."

* * *

Later on that night, Jace hadn't kicked out Clary. He'd left her alone for a little while claiming that if she needed him he'd be in his room, but otherwise, she was free to do whatever she wanted in the house. Not surprisingly, she ended up looking at the portraits of Will and Tessa and her own painting. After a little while, Clary settles down on a couch and starts drawing. It comes out looking Simon. Clary smiles, she's always had an odd talent for drawing from memory. Just as she starts to consider doing one of Jace, the man in question enters the room.

"I'm getting hungry and was thinking about heading out," he says staying by the door. "You want to come?"

Clary's stomach growls answering the question. She nods her head and follows Jace out of the house. They pull up to a place called Taki's and it's nothing like anything Clary has ever seen before. Well, actually, she's had that thought a lot lately. The two sit down at a table and Clary can't help but notice how many girls are staring at Jace and glaring at her.

Jace doesn't even look at the menu and Clary figures that he's probably come here enough he knows exactly what he's going to get. He studies Clary while rapping the knuckles of one of his hands on the table. After a few minutes of Clary reading the names of foods she has never heard of, Jace speaks.

"Have you at least texted Magnus since you left today?" He asks. "He's probably worried."

Clary doesn't look up at Jace. "I left my phone at the apartment."

Jace sighs and rubs his forehead. "Seriously?" He takes out his own phone and hands it to Clary.

"What?"

"Call him. Now." He glares at Clary until she reluctantly takes the device from his hand.

Clary stands up and then takes the opportunity to not have to admit she doesn't know what any of the food is on the menu. "Order something for me, I'll be right back." She exits the building and leans against the wall outside as the phone rings. After the third ring, Magnus answers.

"What is it, Jace?" He sounds tense. "I'm currently in the middle of a dilemma."

"It's not Jace," Clary sighs and the other side goes silent.

"Clary?"

"Yeah."

Then, "WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?! YOU TAKE OFF AGAIN RIGHT AFTER YOU GO MISSING FOR AN ENTIRE DAY?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH I'VE BEEN FREAKING OUT?!"

"Yeah," Clary responds calmly. "That was sort of the point."

"Oh no, hell no. You are not going to start going through a stupid little rebellious phase right now. I am not going to put up with you doing this sort of shit when we have a potential life-altering problem on our hands. Oh wait, it's not 'potential' because it already has completely changed your life! Do you understand what is going on here? You traveled a hundred and forty years into the future and I don't think you're quite as concerned as you should be."

"Not concerned?!" Clary yells back in disbelief. "I'm a lot more than 'concerned', Magnus. I'm just trying to get through this day by day, but I can't do that with you constantly hovering over my shoulder. You know what, you remind me of my past just as much as Jace or the Lightwoods do. So, if you still think that I'm not ready to start living a normal 21st-century life than you are terribly wrong."

Magnus stays quiet for another minute and Clary hears him take a deep breath. "Listen, I'm sorry. I know this has got to be really difficult for you and I will try to better understand what you're feeling. I'll just come and get you and we can calmly talk this out. You're with Jace, right? Where are you? The Herondale manor?"

"No, we're out right now, and I don't want to go back to that apartment where you don't let me leave unless it's to go to school." Magnus starts to stutter on the other end so Clary continues. "You need someone to watch me while you leave for a couple days, right? I'll just stay with Jace."

"Did you even ask him if you can?" Magnus responds surprisingly not straight up telling her no.

"Well... no..." Clary says. "But-"

"You don't know Jace," Magnus cuts her off. "If you're really sure you can handle being around these people then you can stay with the Lightwoods. Not Jace. I'd let you stay with him over my dead body."

"Fine," Clary snaps. "I'll talk to you later." She hangs up the phone before Magnus has a chance to say anything else. She stands outside for another couple of minutes trying to regain her composure before she goes back inside.

When Clary gets back to their table, she finds that her seat has been taken by a blonde in a waitress dress. The girl leans forward on her elbows making googly eyes at Jace. She is talking about something that he doesn't seem very interested in. He spots Clary when she comes up behind the girl and smiles casually. When Jace himself makes no move to get the girl to leave, Clary clears her throat loudly. The girl turns around and looks up at Clary as though she's the devil herself.

"You're in my seat," Clary says smiling. She looks down to see the name tag on the girl's shirt. Kaelie.

"Well, we're in the middle of a conversation and it's sort of rude to interrupt." She starts to turn around and Clary laughs.

"Oh wow, you're funny." Clary rests one of her hands on the back of the chair. "Recently, it's come to my understanding that not much is rude anymore, but what I do know is rude is being a bitch." Jace's smile grows as Kaelie gapes as Clary. "So, if you would leave?"

Kaelie eyes Clary up and down still not getting up. "What even are you? His little sister?"

Jace fails at suppressing a laugh and Clary realizes that he's not butting in because this is entertaining for him. She rolls her eyes. "You wish. Now I've had a rather bad day, so get out of my seat before I hit you so hard you forget your name." At that, Kaelie stands and leaves. Clary takes her seat mumbling under her breath. "What a wagtail."

"That was great," Jace says chuckling.

Clary turns her glare on him and his eyebrows immediately shoot up. He actually looks a little frightened. "Any particular reason you decided not to help me out just then?"

"Yes, actually." Jace sits up straight in his chair. "I was rather curious as to how you would handle the situation. You remember when I told you that you intrigue me, Clary Bane. Well, with each passing moment that I know you I'm learning more and more." Clary merely sighs at him. He takes a bite of his sandwich before continuing. "What happened when you spoke to Magnus? What did he say?"

Clary pushes Jace's phone back over to him remembering that she was still in possession of it. "I'm moving in with the Lightworms."

"The who now?"

"Lightwoods, sorry." Clary runs a hand through her hair. "Starting Monday I'll be living with them."

"First of all," Jace says. "I'm definitely gonna have to use that insult on Alec sometime. Secondly, what the hell did you say to Magnus? He's kicking you out?" His voice raises an octave of disbelief.

"No," Clary shakes her head. "He's going out of town for a week and he doesn't trust me to be home alone."

"Oh, you always could've just stayed with me, you know," Jace says and Clary's heart skips a beat. She's not sure why, though. "I mean, you've already got some stuff at my place now."

"Yeah," Clary draws out the word. "Magnus basically said that he would let me stay with you never. I get the feeling that he doesn't trust you, Jace."

Jace shrugs. "Not surprised." He finishes off his sandwich and Clary looks down at her own food thinking that she's no longer hungry. "I should probably get you back to the apartment then, huh?" Clary nods slowly and Jace stands. "Alright, you ready to go?" He looks down at Clary noticing her untouched food and sits back down. "Are you okay?"

Clary blinks looking up. "Yeah... just numb..."

Jace seems to think before he takes Clary's wrist and stands up again. "Come on," he says pulling her after him. "Let's go."

"Where to?" Clary asks getting the feeling that he's not bringing her back to Magnus' now.

"You'll see," is all Jace says as he opens the door to his car for Clary. After closing the door behind her, he gets in himself and starts driving.

The sun is almost down and Clary watches the street lights as they start turning on. She already knows that it'll be near impossible to see any stars in the city, there was plenty of light pollution in London too. She hardly notices the fact that they drive for almost an hour before Jace stops in front of a forest. He turns off the engine and Clary turns to him with concern.

"You're not going to kill me," she says, "are you?" Jace laughs and gets out of the car. When he opens the door for Clary she very reluctantly gets out. "You didn't answer my question, Jace."

"Shh," he says taking her hand. "Just be quiet. You talk too much."

"You are not making me feel better," Clary mutters but afterward says nothing more.

Jace leads her through the words for about five or ten minutes before they run into a mountain wall. Jace continues to walk along the side of it until they find the entrance to a cave. They walk inside and the one thought going through Clary's head was that she was definitely dying soon. Perhaps he'll take pity on her, Clary thinks. Perhaps he'll make it a swift death and not leave her to suffer in the middle of the woods.

When the cave opens up to a small lake, Clary begins to think that death in a place this beautiful wouldn't actually be too bad. The mountain actually opens above them to the sky and the stars shine brilliantly. Surrounding the lake is purple and red flowers and surprisingly green grass. Clary walks forward and sits down at the edge of the lake.

"This is beautiful," she says. "How'd you find this place?"

"My dad brought me here when I was real young," Jace says sitting next to Clary. "It probably seems really cliche, but I come here whenever life gets to be a little too much."

Clary didn't know how often books had started making the characters have secret gardens and pools they went to when they felt sad, so she laughed a little. It hadn't occurred to her just how 'cliche' some things may have become over the past century. This place feels pretty special to Clary, though, no matter how cliche it might seem to Jace.

"It's amazing," Clary says looking down at her reflection.

"It'd probably be a bit too cliche if I told you that you're the only person I've ever brought here." Jace was staring at Clary's reflection when he says that. She suppresses a laugh and looks up at him.

"You have no idea how un-cliche that sounds to me." Jace looks confused but Clary looks away from him. She splashes the water with her shoe and smiles at the tiny rippling waves.

"You know," Jace says after a few minutes of comfortable silence. "You're not like any girl I've met before."

"Now _that_ sounded a little cliche," Clary laughs.

Jace's expression is totally straight, though. "I'm being serious, Clary." She looks up at him then and swallows hard. She chews on her lip looking down again. She hardly knows anything about this boy and yet the effect he has on her is the same as when she finishes a drawing and it looks perfect. She feels giddy.

"So," Clary clears her throat noticing in the reflection of the lake that Jace is still staring at her. "What's your favorite color?" She's determined to change the subject.

"Red," Jace answers taking a piece of Clary's hair and twirling it around his finger. "Or maybe green." Clary's eyes widen as she stares at her own green eyes in the lake. Her face goes red. Well, _that_ worked.

"Umm, what do you like to do?" Clary asks no longer caring that her voice is a little uneven. "What's your favorite hobby?"

"I like making beautiful girls blush." Jace tucks the piece of hair behind Clary's ear and outlines part of her jawline with his thumb. A shiver runs through Clary's spine and she's one-hundred percent certain that this boy has some sort of degree in flirting.

Saved by the bell, Jace's phone starts ringing and Clary can suddenly breathe again as he draws his hand away from her to answer it.

"What, Magnus?" Jace says and Clary can faintly hear Magnus' voice over the line.

"Don't 'what' me, Jonathon," he snaps. "Where is Clary? I thought she would be home by now. I swear to every god from every religion she is not staying a single night at your house."

"Relax," Jace says standing up. He gestures for Clary to follow as he begins to exit the cave. "I'll have her home in an hour."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING THAT IT'S GOING TO TAKE AN HOUR TO GET HER BACK HERE?" Jace's eyes widen as Magnus screams through the phone. He clears his throat and calmly replies.

"Nothing scandalous," he says. "I promise you, we're doing nothing that you wouldn't do." Jace smiles to himself and takes the phone slightly away from his ear as there's a pause over the line like he knows what's coming next. Turns out he did because then Magnus starts screaming.

"THAT DOES NOT MAKE ME FEEL BETTER HERONDALE!"

"See you in an hour, Magnus!" Jace says. There's some more protest on the other side but Jace hangs up the phone and turns to Clary. "Magnus is awfully overprotective, isn't he?"

Clary rolls her eyes. "You have no idea..."


	10. When Sharing Secrets

"And you're sure you'll be fine?" Magnus asks Clary. They're standing in front of the Lightwood manor on Monday after school. Over the weekend, Magnus had given Clary space and she'd spent some time with Simon, but now that it was Monday he was clearly freaking out.

"You know," Clary says turning to him. "You would think that after a hundred and forty years you would've calmed down a bit and become less overbearing. But no, you're just as protective as ever."

"More so," Alec's voice startles Clary as he appears in front of them. She hadn't even heard the door open. "He was so much more relaxed before you came around, Clary. Not that I'm blaming you or anything, but... well I guess I am sort of blaming you."

Magnus whacks Alec on the back of the head but then proceeds to kiss him on the cheek. "You sure you're alright with taking her in for a week?"

Alec nods. "Yeah, any niece of yours is someday to be a niece of mine." Clary's eyebrows bolt up at the sly 'I wanna marry you' comment but Alec continues before she can even fully process it. "Anyway, Isabelle already likes her and our parents and Max are still out of town for another week so it shouldn't be a very big deal."

"Awesome, I love you so much." This time, Magnus kisses Alec on the lips and doesn't pull away for so long that Clary feels the need to look away. "Alright, biscuit, I'll see you soon. Don't go... disappearing, alright?"

Clary rolls her eyes and pulls Magnus in for a hug. "You know I have no control over that, but," she whispers and then speaks louder when she pulls away. "I'll try."

"If you run away I am not looking for you," Alec says sternly.

"I can tell I'm already so loved here," Clary smiles.

"Alright, I should be off." Magnus rubs Clary's arm and then hesitantly turns and gets in his car. She's well aware that he's going back to the house and teleporting to wherever he's meeting his friend though.

Clary follows Alec into the house and sighs. "I feel like a five-year-old being dropped off at her friend's house because her parents are going out of town unexpectantly and they didn't have time to get a babysitter."

Alec thinks for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, that's exactly what it's like."

Clary shakes her head and keeps walking. She sets her stuff down in the room that Isabelle had initially given her when they first met. Just as she's about to turn and leave the room, the door is flung open and Clary is being pinned to the bed by another girl.

"I can't believe you're really here!" Isabelle exclaims. "Now we can actually become friends since Magnus isn't forcing you to stay away from us!"

Clary gently pushes Isabelle off of her and smiles. "Yeah, I suppose so." This girl has the energy of Cecily. At that thought, Clary almost slaps herself. She has to stop comparing the great-great-great grandchildren of her friends to them.

"Are you excited? You don't look excited? Are you excited?"

Clary laughs. "I'm excited that Magnus is giving me some space."

"Not exactly," Isabelle scratches the back of her neck. Clary narrows her eyes at the girl until she continues. "Well, Magnus sort of told us that we have to give him hourly updates on your location and we're not allowed to take our eyes off you." Clary rolls her eyes. "But at least with us around we can go out and do more stuff with you!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Clary says. She knows that Magnus means well and she loves him, but lord he was a lot more fun in 1878.

There's a knock on the open door then and Jace appears. "Oh hey," he says to Clary as though he didn't know she would here. He then turns to Isabelle. "Food's here. It's in the kitchen."

Isabelle pouts. "What? But it's a special occasion. Clary just got here. I was going to cook."

Jace nods his head. "Right, and I repeat... the food's here." He gives Isabelle a stern look to which she responds by sticking her tongue out. "Immature." He shakes his head with a sarcastic smile and then leaves.

"Ugh," Isabelle groans. "I was going to make my mom's soup recipe. I guess we'll be having Chinese takeout though." She starts out of the room with a disappointed frown and Clary follows.

"So," she says ignoring the whole food fiasco. "Is Jace just sort of... everywhere? Because it kind of feels like he's everywhere all the time."

Isabelle laughs. "Yeah, he gives off that impression. He just tends to be in the right places at the right times. Honestly, the boy can be a little overwhelming sometimes. I'd watch out for him if I were you."

"Watch out for who?" Jace appears around the corner and Isabelle screams a few choice words before slapping him several times. "Ow! Sorry!"

"You better be," she frowns. "And we were talking about you, you devil child."

"Why are you saying to watch out for me?" Jace looks mock hurt. "And by the way, you failed because you clearly were not looking out for me since I succeeded in scaring you so badly."

Clary laughs and Isabelle hits Jace again. She looks back at Clary scowling. "Don't laugh, you'll only encourage him." She pushes Clary along and the three go to the kitchen. There, they find about two dozen containers of Chinese food. Alec is putting out plates and utensils as they walk in. Do they really eat this much food? Clary raises her eyebrows thinking that they've got be inviting at least four more people over because this is way too much food.

"Make yourself at home, Bane," Alec says. "You're one of us now."

Clary laughs and speaks under her breath. "I've been one of you before you were ever born."

"Huh?" Jace asks beside her but she just shakes her head.

"Nothing."

For the next couple hours, Clary sits in that kitchen getting to know the other three teens. She doesn't do much talking but rather observes them as they talk and laugh about the most random of things. As the dinner goes on, Clary's phone buzzes and she opens it to a message from Simon. Earlier that day at school he had been grilling her with questions and she had given him to vaguest answers possible.

From Simon:  
 _What are you doing tomorrow after school?_

Clary looks up to see that Isabelle and the others are deep in conversation and not paying attention to her.

From Clary:  
 _Nothing that I'm aware of.  
Why?_

From Simon:  
 _My friend Eric is doing this insufferable poetry thing at Java Jones and I have to go.  
I was sort of hoping that you would come and keep me company.  
_

From Clary:  
 _Oh come on, it can't be that bad._

From Simon:  
 _Trust me, it is._  
 _But you should still come._  
 _I need someone to keep me from blowing out my brains._

Clary chuckles and looks up at the others again knowing that Magnus made them promise to not let her out of their sights. "Hey, Isabelle," Clary says. Isabelle turns to her and Clary smiles hopefully. "My friend wants me to go to this thing tomorrow and..."

"You're well aware that one of us has to come with?" Isabelle finishes. She laughs and nods. "Sure, I'll come with you. What friend and what activity?"

"He goes to our school," Clary says noticing the face Jace makes when she says 'he'. "His name is Simon and we're going to Java Jones."

"Oh, I've seen him around," Isabelle says. She nudges Clary with her elbow. "You know, he's kind of cute. In a nerdy sort of way, that is." Isabelle raises her eyebrows suggestively at Clary before returning to her food. Clary shakes her head and looks back down at her phone.

From Clary:  
 _I'll be there.  
And I'm bringing Isabelle._

Simon doesn't reply for a solid minute so Clary puts her phone away. After another minute, though, it starts ringing and Simon is calling her. She stands up and walks away from the group as she answers.

"Umm, hello?" She says.

"I'm sorry," Simon says sounding shaky. "I'm pretty sure there was some typo in that last text you sent me so if you wouldn't mind repeating it and making sure that you're diction is very crisp and clear."

Clary laughs. "I'll come to Java Jones tomorrow and I am going to bring Isabelle Lightwood with me."

The line goes quiet and then Simon clears his throat. "Alright, that's- that's something. That's great. I'll see you tomorrow, Bane."

"Goodbye, Lewis," Clary says. When she returns to the table, everyone is staring at her. "What?"

"You realize that you're going to give that boy a heart attack, right?" Alec says. Clary raises her eyebrows confused.

"What?"

"Listen," Jace pipes up. "Our Izzy over here is a precious little flower that looks nice and delicate but in reality is incredibly poisonous." Isabelle smiles at the analogy. "And still, every man and boy out there wants to obtain this flower without dying. Now you, this new and strange bird that keeps disappearing for some reason," Clary furrows her eyebrows at the quick jab but says nothing. "Are bringing this flower to the people that would like to obtain it. Now that the flower is right in front of them, they'll have to decide whether they want to take the chance at death to try and obtain this flower."

Clary stares at Jace confused. After a moment, she shakes her head and goes back to her food. "This generation is so weird."

* * *

After a little while, they finished their meal with a surprisingly small amount of leftovers. Clary stays in her room for the rest of the night with her sketchbook in front of her. She draws a little bird- a finch- pulling a flower- a lily- from the ground. Worms are poking their heads out from the dirt to look at where the flower is going. Clary smiles to herself as she puts the finishing touches on it. She closes the sketchbook and places it on the dresser before crawling under the covers of her bed. It doesn't take long before she drifts off to sleep.

 _Clary's back in London. She sits in her house on her favorite chair with one of her favorite books in her hands. Outside, the snow falls peacefully landing on the window's ledge. The only sound in the entire house is the clock on the wall ticking the seconds by. As Clary turns the page, the front door opens and her mother enters. The older woman shakes the snow from her coat and hat._

 _"It seems to be coming down harder," she says. She takes off her snow-covered things and comes over to where Clary sits. "What are you reading dear?"_

 _"Nothing interesting," Clary shrugs setting the book down. "I was just passing time until you came back home."_

 _The smile on her mom's face suddenly drops. "But Clary, I won't come back home. I can't." Clary furrows her eyebrows confused by what her mom is saying. "I'm gone, Clary. You saw my grave. I won't ever come back."_

 _"No," Clary tries to reach for her mom's hand but she just passes through her like she's a ghost. "No, mom. Please, don't go!" Tears start to run down her face. "Please, I'll do better next time. Just don't leave me."_

 _"Oh, Clary," her mom says. She starts to waver and disappear into thin air. "It's not your fault."_

 _"Mom," Clary reaches out again but she's gone. "Mom!"_

Clary bolts up in bed. "Mom!" The word comes out panicked and she looks around shaking her head. Stupid dreams. She can't stop these horrid dreams. Clary yells in aggravation and throws a pillow across the room. It hits the wall with a thud just as the door opens.

"Clary?" Isabelle pops her head in with concern written on her face. She looks over at the discarded pillow and closes the door behind her. "Are you okay?"

"Sorry," Clary says crossing her legs under herself. "Did I wake you?"

Isabelle nods. "My room's like right across the hall, but don't worry about that. Are you alright? I heard you yell something. Mom?"

Clary sighs as the other girl sits on the edge of her bed. She fiddles with her fingers remembering her mother's face in her dream. "If I told you something," she starts slowly. "Would you promise not to think I'm totally and completely insane?" Isabelle's eyebrows shoot up but she nods. Clary runs a hand through her hair trying to figure out how to say this. "I just- I need someone besides Magnus to know. I... don't belong here."

"What do you mean?" Isabelle asks. "Of course you do, you've been doing fine since you moved in with Magnus."

"No," Clary shakes her head. "I mean, first of all, I haven't been doing fine, but- I don't belong in this century. I was born in the year 1862 in London, England. Then, one weird December night, I went to sleep in my bed and woke up here in New York in 2018. I have no idea how I got here or why." Isabelle's eyes are wide and Clary can tell that she thinks she's either crazy or lying. "Listen, my real name is Clarissa Adele Fairchild. I knew your great-great-great grandparents. Their names were Gabriel Lightwood and Cecily Herondale. You know that painting in Jace's library? The one of London with the signature in the corner 'C. Fairchild'? That's me. I painted that for William Herondale, my best friend."

Isabelle's eyes stay wide and she doesn't say anything for a long time. Clary sighs thinking that telling her was a mistake. She just wanted to tell someone, though. To have somebody else know what she's going through.

"Okay," Isabelle finally says and her voice is high. Clary raises an eyebrow and the girl speaks again. "I mean- okay." She scratches her head and meets Clary's eye. "Just- how do you know Magnus then?"

"Oh," Clary opened and closed her mouth several times unsure if she should be sharing Magnus' secret too. "Well, you can't tell Magus or anybody else that I told you any of this. Seriously, what I'm saying right now has to stay between us and only us."

Isabelle shrugs. "No one would believe me anyway."

"Magnus is a warlock," Clary says. "He's immortal and I knew him back in the 1800s."

"Oh," Isabelle squeaks. "Well ain't that something." She looks like she might have a panic attack at any moment.

"Do you believe me?" Clary asks. "Because I'm being serious. I somehow time traveled into the future while teleporting to a different continent. Magnus had to teach me all about modern technology like cars and cell phones- which are totally insane, might I add. Oh, and the other day when I 'ran away', I didn't run away! I time traveled again only this time it was just a day and a half and I ended up in this place called the Grand Canyon."

"You're seriously being serious right now?" Isabelle says. She takes a deep breath. "Alright, well I guess I believe you."

"Really?!"

"Yeah," Isabelle shrugs. "But if you are lying, I'm going to be seriously mad."

"I'm not lying," Clary laughs. "Thank you for believing me."

Isabelle nods and sits on her feet as her face lights up in excitement. "So, what were the 1800s like? You said that you knew our ancestors, what were they like?"

"Well," Clary grins widely. "I can tell you that Jace looks exactly like his great-great-great grandfather, William Owen Herondale. Also, if Will knew that Jace was such good friends with you and Alec, he would probably smite something. He _hated_ Gabriel, he called your family the 'Lightworms.'"

"That's why you kept on saying that!" Isabelle exclaims. "I was really confused with that whole Lightworm business."

Clary laughs. "Yeah, sorry about that."

For the next few hours, Isabelle continues throwing questions at Clary and she answers them with enthusiasm. It's strange how much it doesn't hurt to talk about them now. It makes her happy to be able to reminisce like this. The girls laugh throughout the night until Isabelle's curiosity is mostly fulfilled and Clary grows tired. For the rest of the night, she sleeps peacefully.


	11. When Feeling Nostalgia

**Hello beautiful readers! So sorry for the long wait, but I hope this extra long chapter helps make up for it! Love y'all and hope you enjoy! Please comment thoughts!**

The next day during lunch, Clary is sitting with Simon as she usually does. She sits at the end of the table and, although the rest of his friends also sit at that table, she only really talks to Simon himself. That day, though, as Clary sits eating her lunch in silence, someone plops down beside her rather casually. She looks up at Isabelle and raises her eyebrows. The raven-haired girl smiles back at Clary as she takes out her own lunch. When Simon turns to Clary, he notices Isabelle and almost starts choking he's so startled.

"Hi?" Clary says confused.

"Hey," Isabelle replies. Clary opens her mouth to say more but closes it when she comes up with nothing to say.

"H- hi, Isabelle," Simon greets her nervously. She smiles politely at him before turning to Clary excitedly.

"So, I've been wondering," she says but Clary's attention is split as Simon tries to silently question what the Lightwood girl is doing at their table. "What's school here like compared to-" she glances sideways at Simon and pauses before continuing, "your old school?"

Clary glances at Simon as well who appears to be becoming more and more confused. "Insane," she says to Isabelle, "but I think I've gotten the hang of it pretty well."

"Yeah? Well, I was wondering if after school you could tell me more about your... old school." She looks hopeful and it occurs to Clary that Isabelle had never randomly approached her before she found out that she wasn't from this century. It hurt her a little that there was the possibility that Isabelle only wanted to hang out with her now for that reason. She decided then that she didn't want anyone else to know. Before she hadn't wanted anyone to know, of course, but now she was far more determined for nobody else to find out.

"Sure," Clary nods gulping down the lump in her throat.

The bell rings then and Isabelle stands with one last goodbye smile. The moment she's gone, Simon spins to Clary with wide eyes full of disbelief.

"What the hell was that?" He questions as Clary collects her things so they can get to class. She doesn't answer immediately and so Simon continues. "Why did Isabelle Lightwood sit here? I thought you weren't allowed to talk to her. Now you guys are meeting up after school?"

"We're not meeting up, exactly," Clary says with a sigh as they head to the crowded hallways. "Magnus is out of town for a little bit and I'm staying at the Lightwood's until he gets back."

"You're what now?" Simon asks. He sounds like he's in awe.

"Magnus didn't trust me to be on my own." Clary shrugs.

"Well," scoffs Simon, "you did run away."

Clary shoots a glare at him to which he responds to by putting up his hands defensively. "Nevertheless, I'm with the Lightwoods for about a week. I guess Isabelle has decided to take this opportunity to become closer friends with me." Simon narrows his eyes suspiciously and Clary shrugs. She glances down the hallway that she has to go down but Simon doesn't. "See you later, Si. Got to get to class." Simon begins to protest but some teachers start yelling at students to get to class and he has to turn down the other hall.

* * *

Later that day, Clary is standing in the library of the Lightwood manor scanning the paintings and portraits hung on the walls for the same thing as what she found in the Herondale manor. She does, in fact, end up finding an old picture of the Lightwood family from the early 1900s. Gideon, Gabriel, and Cecily Herondale were in it along with their parents and people that Clary assumed to be their children.

She sits down at one of the various tables in the library and takes out her sketchbook. She starts drawing various things she used to own and goes through a dozen pieces of paper before Isabelle comes bounding into the library. She plops down in the chair beside Clary and rests her chin on her hands with her elbows on the table. She stares at Clary for a few minutes before the redhead finally sighs and sets down her pencil.

"Yes, Isabelle?" She says looking up at the other girl.

"You're the most interesting person I have ever met in my entire life," she says. "You intrigue me."

"You and Jace both," Clary laughs.

"Jace?" Isabelle asks, her eyes light up.

"Yeah?" Clary says, her voice raises an octave in confusion. Everything in the 21st century is so damned confusing. "He told me that I intrigue him and he's determined to find out what my secret is."

"Does Jace act like your old friend too?" Isabelle asks. "You said he looks exactly like him, does he act like him?"

"Will?" Isabelle nods and Clary thinks a moment before nodding with a sly smile. "Yeah, they act a bit alike. Only, I think Will was just a tad bit less arrogant than Jace. It's sort of hard and easy at the same time for me to see the differences between the two because Will was my best friend in the entire world, and I guess since we were so close it's easy because I knew him so well, but it's hard because I want to see him in Jace. I miss him."

Isabelle rubs Clary's shoulder sympathetically. "I'm sorry. I can't imagine how tough all of this must be for you."

"It's okay," Clary sighs. "I'm trying to move on. I know that I most likely won't be able to go back to my time and even if I can, I'm not sure I would want to because my being alive might mess up the futures my friends ended up having."

"Meaning..." Isabelle says slowly. "That Alec and Jace and I might not end up being born if you get to go back." Clary nods and chews on her thumbnail. "Well, if it means anything, I like having you around now."

Clary laughs a little but can't shake the feeling she had gotten earlier that day during school when Isabelle had spoken to her. She raps her knuckles on the table and looks back down at her drawings feeling nostalgic. The picture of her mom's favorite quill (because she had about two dozen) stared back at her. The room was silent until the door opened and Jace popped into the room.

"Hey," he said and both the girls' heads whipped up to him. "Alec and I were thinking about going out to see a movie, we're thinking the new _Fantastic Beasts_. You guys want to come?"

"Sure," Isabelle says but she sounds a little confused.

"We're leaving in ten," Jace says and then leaves the room.

Isabelle humphs as she stands. "That's odd, I thought that Jace's parents got home last night. I'd have thought he'd be home right now." She shrugs as the girls head to exit the room.

"Hey, Izzy..." Clary says as they reach the door. "What's a movie?"

Isabelle pauses with her hand on the handle and slowly turns to Clary. She opens and closes her mouth before patting Clary on the shoulder and then opening the door.

"You'll see," she says. "You'll probably be really really confused on how the hell it's even possible, but you'll see."

Clary opens her mouth but says nothing as they walk through the halls to find Alec and Jace so they can leave to go to whatever the hell a movie is. When they find them, the two are speaking quietly about something and stop talking when the girls come in. Isabelle stares suspiciously at Jace and leans against the doorway.

"You guys ready to go?" She asks crossing her arms over her chest. Jace raises an eyebrow at the look Isabelle is giving him but says nothing and merely nods.

"Yeah," Alec says. "You know, it's weird, I was thinking about inviting Magnus to come with us and then I remembered that he's out of town. He's not out of town very often."

"Aww," Jace mock pouts. "Poor Alec misses his boyfriend." He sticks out his bottom lip prompting Alec to push Jace's arm. The golden boy stumbles a bit but doesn't fall. He laughs heading out the door.

"Don't be so cruel, Jace," Isabelle says. Clary follows her closely. "You're just jealous because you don't have what Alec has."

"You're one to talk," Jace scoffs. "Tell me, Iz, when the last time was that you had a boyfriend for longer than a month." Jace stops walking and turns to the girl with his arms crossed. Isabelle opens and closes her mouth several times. Eventually, she settles on saying nothing and looks at the ground with shame. Jace shakes his head smiling and continues on to the car. "Exactly."

"Cruel." Isabelle tsks but Jace just laughs.

A while later, the four are at what they call a "theater". Clary's 1800s version of a theater involves a stage, an auditorium, and a foyer. Here there was indeed a foyer, but one filled with concessions, then there was a couple dozen doors and inside said doors were large rooms with screens taking up the entirety of one wall and seats facing the screen (like an auditorium, actually). Not to mention whenever Clary would go out to the theater she had to dress up for the occasion. There wasn't a thing she dared to question aloud, but inside her mind was whirling. Nowadays, when wasn't her mind whirling?

After the group had bought their tickets for a movie called _Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald_ , they took their seats and watched what was called "previews" for a solid fifteen minutes. Clary's eyes were wide as she stared at the moving pictures on the humongous screen. Magnus had taught Clary a bit about what television was, but this was a whole nother thing. It was insane and seemingly impossible. Though if it were truly impossible then she wouldn't be staring at it right now, ergo Clary concluded that it was, in fact, possible.

Isabelle seemed to be getting a kick out of Clary's reactions to everything. She watched as the girl tried to contain her amazement but only partially succeeded. Thankfully, the guys didn't seem to notice and whenever they did Izzy made up some great excuse every time.

When the movie was over Alec, Jace, and Isabelle discussed what they thought about the plot and ending. Clary was still reeling from what she had just witnessed and barely paid any attention. The action, the mystery, betrayal, etc. The more Clary thought about it, the more she realized that her life could be the plot to some fictional movie. Isabelle seemed interested enough, and Clary had to admit that she would pay to see this if it were happening to someone else.

The redhead was cut from her thoughts when Isabelle tugged on her sleeve. She blinked staring at the other girl who seemed to be awaiting some response. After a moment she realized that Clary hadn't been paying attention and sighed repeating herself.

"You want to get some dinner? We're all kind of hungry." She gestured to the guys who were several feet away talking with one another.

"Sure," Clary said with a smile. Isabelle grinned back and pulled her along.

Soon enough, they were in that restaurant Jace had taken Clary to a few days before. The group took their seats in a booth at Taki's and none even bothered on picking up the menu. Clary assumed they'd all been here enough to know what they wanted, she once had a place like that...

 _The rain poured harder and harder as Clary and Will raced each other down the streets of London. They slammed through the doors of their favorite restaurant. They laughed as they shook off the water on their clothes and in their hair. Will pushed Clary a little for having beat him and she laughed harder._

 _Their laughter was cut off though when they saw that Tessa and Jem were already there. Sure, the group had made plans to meet up, but it was the manner in which the two were sitting that made Clary and Will take pause._

 _Their chairs were obviously pushed a little together and Tessa was resting her chin on her hand as she leaned in even further to Jem. She laughed flirtatiously at whatever Jem was saying. His expression was one of caring and love and happiness._

 _Clary turned to Will to find his face completely void of emotion. Just a week earlier the raven-haired boy had confessed that he was developing a pretty heavy crush on the brunette girl. Neither Jem nor Tessa had ever said anything about one another to Clary before. Now she was worried that Will was broken._

 _Just as that thought came into her mind, Will walked forward and took his seat across from his best friend, a smile firmly planted on his face. Clary followed slowly after and heard Will jokingly ask "what's so funny?" She tuned out to what the conversation was as she sat down. Clary watched how the three interacted taking note on how it was as if nothing had happened at all. Tess and Jem had parted, Will acted as though everything was perfectly fine when Clary knew that couldn't possibly be true. She shook off her worry and focused on being with her friends though._

 _The waitress came, took their orders (which was really just her confirming all their regulars), and soon returned with their food and drinks. It was sort of like a tradition for the group to eat there every single Tuesday and occasionally some other day of the week, but always Tuesday._

Clary's phone rings. She jump, startled out of the memory. Today was Tuesday... She furrowed her eyebrows not noticing the looks the other three were giving her and pulled out her phone. Clary answered without checking who it was.

"Where are you?" It was Simon.

"Huh?" Clary asks still half consumed by the memory of London.

"Java Jones, Eric's poetry thing. You said you'd come."

Clary's eyes widened. She had completely forgotten. She felt horrible. "I am _so_ sorry," Clary said, "I went to a movie with the Lightwoods and I just completely forgot about it."

"It's fine, it starts in like ten minutes if you still want to come." Simon sounded so nonchalant, Clary blessed him for being as understanding as he was.

"Of course!" Clary exclaimed. "I'll be there soon."

"Awesome," Simon said and then he hung up.

"What was that about?" Alec asked suspiciously as Clary stood up from the booth.

"Yesterday I promised Simon that I would go to this stupid poetry thing his friend is doing at Java Jones and I totally forgot about it." Clary was shoving her phone back in her pocket as Isabelle stood to follow.

"Oh yeah," she said, "I remember that. I have to go with you."

Clary nodded solemnly. The boys gave each other a look before shrugging and standing.

"What are you doing?" Clary asked them with raised eyebrows.

"Well, we might as well come along," started Alec.

"Yeah," continued Jace, "since both of you are leaving. Plus, I just _adore_ poetry." The sparkle in his eye made Clary suspect that he rather 'adored' mocking the people reading the poetry.

Clary rolled her eyes but said nothing knowing that there was no way she was going to get them to back off so she might as well deal with it.

When they got to Java Jones, Alec and Jace broke off from the other two to get coffee. Clary looked around for a minute before spotting Simon. They had gotten there with about two minutes to spare so Eric was currently getting ready off to the side of the stage.

"Hey, Si!" Clary greeted the boy cheerfully. He turned to her beaming. His smile only grew when he saw Isabelle trailing the redhead.

"Hey, Clare, Isabelle." Simon was almost adverting from looking directly at Isabelle.

Apparently, Izzy noticed that too because she laughed and shook her hand out for Simon. "Hey, it's good to see you." Simon looked awestruck as he held out his hand and let her take it. When she released, she turned to Clary. "I'm going to find Jace and Alec so I can get some coffee too. Do you want anything?"

"Black coffee." Clary shrugged. Isabelle nodded before walking off. Clary took a seat at Simon's table and looked around.

"Alec and Jace are here?" Simon questioned beckoning Clary's attention.

"Oh," Clary nodded. "Yeah, they decided it was necessary to tag along. I guess I'm just not trustworthy even with Isabelle following me everywhere I go."

Simon laughed. "Can you blame them? You did run away at one point and if something happened to you on their watch I doubt Magnus would ever forgive them."

Clary laughed and at that moment the lights of the shop flickered signaling that the poetry night was beginning. The lights dimmed and a spotlight fell on a single microphone stand. Eric entered the light, his head hung low and his clothes rather emo looking. He brought his head up dramatically and started his poem. Something about how he drowned like he was on the Titanic because a girl broke him in half. Clary didn't pay much attention to the meaning behind it all due to the number of times the boy said words such as "groin" and "moist".

"I don't know what he plans on doing with his 'talent,'" Simon whispers to Clary. She turns to him. "He's in a band and he writes very awful poetry, but he's my friend so I have to support him in every way that I can." Simon's gaze stayed on Eric and after another "groin" Simon pursed his lips and spoke again. "And yet... it would also be supporting if I told him that he should look for a new career... right?"

Clary half contained a laugh just as someone took the seat beside her.

"What's so funny?" Jace wondered as he set a black coffee in front of Clary. His eyes were on Eric, but Clary's were stuck on him. Everything this boy did reminded her of Will. "It can't be this... because _this_ is just tragic." He shook his head before glancing at Clary and noticing that she was staring at him. He gestured to her coffee before returning his gaze to Eric. "Izzy told me to give that to you. She got caught up flirting with some dreadful poet who was droning on about 'the seduction of words' and 'the art of pain.'" Jace scoffed. "Alec is doing his best to make sure she doesn't do anything we'll _all_ regret." When Clary said nothing, Jace looked back to once again find her staring at him. This time, he raised an eyebrow. "Come on Bane, I know I'm attractive but there's no reason to be staring like that."

"Nothing," Clary shook her head pushing the memory from earlier to the farthest part of her mind. "Just..." She looked down at her coffee and took a deep breath. "Nothing."

After a moment, Jace turned away again, and when he did, Simon put his hand over Clary's. She looked up and he mouthed _Are you okay?_ Clary nodded knowing that it wouldn't convince Simon of anything, but not able to explain it. He looked at her with worry before eventually turning back to Eric.

By the end of the evening, Clary had seen a myriad of different people speak melodramatically about the most ridiculous topics possible. She was exhausted and not even because it was getting late, just because her mind couldn't wrap around the fact that someone had any of these thoughts and made the decision to then write them down and share them.

Clary and Simon were waiting outside the shop together as Eric spoke with fellow poets, Isabelle undoubtedly got the emo guy's number, and Alec attempted to pry Izzy away.

"Sorry to force you to endure that," Simon said, "but it was nice to have someone to poke fun with."

Clary laughed. "It was fun laughing at the terrible poetry. I feel a little bad about it though."

"Don't." Simon waved a dismissive hand. "Eric knows, to an extent he knows." Simon scratched the back of his head and grimaced. "Yeah, he probably doesn't know."

Clary laughed again. The door to Java Jones opened and Jace exited. He stood beside Clary with arms crossed and looked back and forth between the two.

"It seems I keep walking in right _after_ the joke is made," he said. He grins at Simon's eye roll.

"Where's Isabelle and Alec?" Clary wonders ignoring Jace's comment.

"They're coming." Jace cleared his throat and shoved his hands in his pockets. He glanced back at the door. "Last I saw, the issue wasn't that Isabelle was hitting on someone, but rather that Alec wasn't being hit on and having a hell of an uncomfortable time telling the lady that he was one, taken and two, gay."

Clary grinned widely and muttered to herself, "That sounds like Gabriel. Always being hit on any time he went out."

"What?" Simon asked.

"Nothing," Clary replied a bit too quickly. She cleared her throat noticing how Jace was now analyzing her. "Umm, so Si do you want to hang out tomorrow? There's this test coming up that I really need to study for."

"Sure-" Simon barely got out the word, let alone the next one before Jace spoke.

"Oh yeah, sounds like a ton of fun." Clary and Simon both turned to him with raised eyebrows. Jace looked back and forth with a mocking expression of confusing. "Well, Clary, as you may recall you are not allowed to be without Isabelle, Alec, or I whilst Magnus is away."

"I thought it was just the Lightwoods." Clary narrowed her eyes.

Jace shrugged. "I'm basically a Lightwood."

"Now that I'm eighteen," Alec suddenly appears startling Clary. "I can adopt him. So... yeah."

Jace smiled pointing at Alec and smiling at Clary. He looks like a kid whose parent just told him he can get a toy from Toys 'R' Us _(RIP_ _)_.

Clary rolls her eyes. "Yeah, okay. Simon will just come over to the Lightwood's house, then no one has to babysit me."

Jace narrows his eyes but Alec shrugs. "That would be fine," he says.

"Awesome," Simon says. He glances behind Clary as the door to Java Jones opens and Eric exits. "I've gotta go, but I'll see you tomorrow at school Clare. Bye!" He waves to her once before rushing off.

"Bye!" Clary calls back.

Alec and Isabelle start walking towards the car, but Jace hangs back until Clary follows as well.

"So you have another little date with rat-face, eh?" Jace asks not so much out of true curiosity but rather to poke fun at Simon.

"We're just friends," Clary says annoyed. "Today was not a date, tomorrow is not a date. We are not dating. We are friends."

"Uh huh." Jace nods smiling like he wants to laugh. "'Not a date.'"

"I'm serious!" Clary exclaims. She glances ahead to Isabelle thinking about the way Simon acts around her. It's not just that he thinks she's pretty or hot or whatever. Simon looked at Isabelle the way that Will used to look at Tessa. "He has a crush on someone."

"Oh yeah?" Jace nudged Clary with his elbow and she looked back at him. "Who?"

"I'm not going to tell you," Clary scoffed. In all honesty, she couldn't tell him because she didn't even know for certain. She would have to ask Simon about this though she suspected he would deny it.

"Fine," said Jace. He didn't continue but there was an evil smile on his face.

"What?" Clary demanded. Jace only shook his head. "Tell me!" He opened his mouth but then closed it and shook his head again. She was about to try forcing his thoughts from him again when she was cut off.

"Clary! Jace!" Isabelle called from several yards ahead. Apparently, the two had slowed down significantly. "Hurry up!"

They quickened their pace to catch up with the Lightwoods and never did end up finishing that conversation. Late that night, Clary was contemplating her relationships with different people. She laid on her back in bed and stared at the ceiling as names flashed through her mind.

Tessa, Jem, and Will had been her closest friends. She loved them like they were her family, nothing more and nothing less.

Magnus had been a good friend though not quite as close as the other three but that had to do with age more than anything. Now, though, her and Magnus were closer than ever. He was all she really had.

Though she supposed she had Isabelle now too since the girl knew her secrets. Clary could imagine that Isabelle would be a very good friend of hers, it would never be the same as Tessa but it could get close.

Simon was already practically a new Jem. They had gotten so close in such a short period of time that it astonished her.

Then there was Alec. He reminded her of Gideon even though the boy's descendant was Gabriel. She and the eldest Lightwood had gotten along well but had never outright been friends. So far it seemed that Alec wasn't particularly interested in having Clary as a friend, more as a ward.

That just left Jace. Clary was having difficulty placing Jace. After everything that had happened since she arrived in New York, Jace confused her the most and that was saying a lot.

Around midnight, sleep wasn't coming for Clary. She sat up and grabbed her sketchbook. Instead of starting a new drawing though, Clary looked through the ones she'd already done. Will, Tessa, Jem, the Lightwoods, her mom, London, Magnus. Clary's paused on pages of 'new' things: the Grand Canyon, Simon, Chairman Meow, the Lightwoods, Jace. She stared at the rough sketch of Jace for several minutes trying to force her brain to process the fact that he was not Will but he was in her life.

She groaned flopping back on her bed with the sketchbook still open. Clary shoved it off to the side and flipped over so her face was buried in her pillows and her cries of agony were muffled.

Eventually, probably sometime after three, Clary passed out. Per usual, she dreamed of England. This time was different though because this time it was 1878 but Tessa and Jem and Will and everyone were Isabelle and Simon and Jace and everyone.


	12. When Atomic Bombs Are Dropped

"Okay, this is an easy one," Simon was saying. He and Clary had been sitting in the library of the Lightwood Manor for the past hour or two studying for Clary's history test the next day. So far, she hadn't been doing too well. "What were the names of the two major cities that the United States dropped the atomic bombs on during World War II?"

Clary had to contain her surprise from that question. She tended to space out in her classes so the news of an atomic bomb was surprising to her. What did "atomic" mean anyway? Could it really have been that bad? None of this ever made any sense to here.

"Umm," Clary stuttered after a moment, "you're right. That is easy, so why don't we just take a break for a bit. We've been studying a long while."

"Agreed," Simon sighed. He closed the textbook with the study guide still in its pages. Standing up, he spoke again, "I'm gonna use the bathroom."

Clary nodded. "Down the hall, second left, then the first right."

Simon shot Clary a thumbs up. As he opened the door, Isabelle entered. The two jumped a bit at each other's sudden presence before both continuing on their ways. Once the door was closed, Clary groaned loudly and let her head fall on the table. Isabelle walked over and took the seat that Simon had previously been in.

"Isabelle," Clary mumbled through the wood.

"Yes?" The girl replied.

"Where did the United States drop the atomic bombs during World War II?"

"Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan." Isabelle paused. Clary heard the other girl move to the seat beside her. "Why?"

Clary picked up her head and turned to Izzy with wide, sad eyes. "I don't even know what an atomic bomb is. How is the location they were dropped supposed to be an easy question if I don't even know what they are?"

"The atomic bombs," Isabelle answered in a smooth tone, "were nuclear weapons created out of the Manhattan Project. The United States originally created five, dropped one in a desert as a test, and then dropped two more over two large cities in Japan as an attempt to end the second World War. The bombs devastated both cities and neither have actually completely recovered from the effects."

"Nuclear. Weapons." Clary rested her chin on her folded hands. "What does that even mean?"

"It means." Isabelle put one hand on Clary's shoulder and lightly pushed her back up. "That the world has advanced a lot. Tensions between countries are high, but we haven't had a world war in _years_. Don't worry about it, Clare. It's not that big of a deal."

"Countries are going to war. Nuclear weapons are being created and launched." Clary's voice was almost shrill in complaint. "Of course it's a big deal!"

Isabelle wrapped her arm around Clary's shoulders. "It's going to be fine. I'll be here to help you every step of the way." She released Clary to look at her. "And if you need someone to help you study, you could always just come to me. I'm a lot smarter than I look, you know."

Clary chuckled. "Yeah... thanks, Izzy. I'll remember that."

Simon reentered the room then. He awkwardly took his seat at the table clearly affected by Isabelle's presence there. Clary shook her head at the boy but said nothing. It was Isabelle that ended up breaking the silence.

"So," said she, "I was wondering if you guys wanted to take a break from all this boringness and go and do something?"

"Sure." Clary grinned from ear to ear thankful that she didn't have to study anymore. "That sounds awesome."

"Um." Simon scratched his neck nervously. "Yeah, sure."

"Wonderful." Isabelle clapped her hands together. "A group of my friends is going out to this club. We'll leave in an hour." With that, Izzy stood and left the library.

Simon let out a groan and Clary had to hold back a laugh. "What's the matter?" She asked him.

"I'm not cut out for this," he said. Clary raised her eyebrows. "You live in an insane world! You popped up out of nowhere, ran away, moved in with the Lightwoods." He shook his head. "What am I getting myself into by being your friend?"

"We're getting through this together," Clary said shaking Simon's arm. "I'm not used to this world either, trust me."

Simon smiled appreciatively. For the next hour, the two sat in Clary's room talking. Clary flipped through the pages of her sketchbook and showed Simon some of her latest drawings. He commented supportively on them and it made her smile. Sure, Clary knew that she was talented, but it was always nice to have someone else appreciate her work.

Their chatter was cut off when someone knocked on the open door. Clary and Simon both looked up to find Jace standing in the doorframe. Despite his voice being even and calm, there was slight distress on his face. "Isabelle asked me to get you guys. She's waiting in her room."

"Oh, thanks," Clary said. Simon got up and headed out the door while Clary closed her sketchbook and set it to the side. As she passed Jace to leave he spoke.

"Are you guys going out somewhere?" He asked.

"Yeah." Clary would've thought he'd have already known they were going out. In fact, she had sort of been under the impression Alec and Jace would be coming along. That always seemed to be the way in went anyway.

Jace said nothing else though. He merely nodded and walked off in the opposite direction. It wasn't like him to be so quiet and that worried Clary. She remembered that whenever Will was quiet it meant he was upset about something. When he had done something bad, though, Will would talk like there was no tomorrow. Sort of like he was trying to stall. Clary smirked at the thought, but quickly frowned when she remembered there was no more odd silence or talkative stalling from him. She shoved her hands in her pockets and started to head for Isabelle's room.

When Clary reached Izzy's room the girl was handing Simon a black button-up shirt and telling him to go change. Simon started out of the room as Clary entered. He shrugged to her with wide, confused eyes.

"Good, Clary," Isabelle said with a smile. Her smile dropped when she actually looked at the redhead though. "Nevermind, bad. This won't do. None of this will do."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't worry, I have some things you can borrow."

"Iz-" Clary started but was cut off. Her main concern right now was that she and Isabelle had _very_ different body types.

"I know exactly what you should wear!" Isabelle exclaimed. She ran over to her closet and start rummaging through clothes on and off hangers until she apparently found what she was looking for and jumped up with enthusiasm. She spun around and thrust the item at Clary. The girl held it in front of her and her jaw just about dropped.

"Isabelle... there is no way I can wear something like this," Clary said firmly.

"Oh, sure you can." She waved a dismissive hand. "Trust me, girl, you can pull this off with ease. You're more than pretty enough."

"No, you don't understand." Clary handed the short, strapless black dress back to Isabelle. "I'm hardly used to wearing pants, there's absolutely no way that I could put on something like that. My undergarments used to cover more skin than that thing."

Isabelle took the dress and sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I won't make you wear it." She walked back to her closet and put it away. "Here, I might have something better for you to wear." Isabelle pulled out a maroon dress.

Reluctantly, Clary accepted the dress. She changed in Isabelle's room and found herself not actually hating the thing. It went down to just above her knees and had short sleeves that only covered her shoulders. It hugged her in all the right places while still not being too tight. Clary was admiring herself in the floor length mirror when Isabelle came up behind her with a pair of black flats in her hands.

"I accept the fact that you're probably not a high heel type of girl," Isabelle says. Clary turned to her with a laugh and took the shoes.

There was a knock on the door then. Isabelle opened it and Simon entered. He looked handsome in the nice shirt. He was still wearing his jeans, of course, but nonetheless. Black suited him.

"Simon, right on time, I think we're just about ready to go." Isabelle grabbed a red purse to match her red dress. She checked what was in it quickly before smiling brightly at Clary and Simon. "Alright, let's go."

The three were soon out of the manor and getting into Isabelle's car. The ride to the club was light and easy. Izzy could obviously tell how nervous both Simon and Clary were about going to such a place and so she talked about the most random things. Eventually, they reached the club. Isabelle pointed out her friend's car mentioning how they were probably already inside.

Izzy led Clary and Simon in. They didn't have to wait in line since Isabelle apparently knew the bouncer. Once inside, she searched through the thick crowds until she found her other friends. Isabelle beckoned Clary and Simon to follow her as she made her way through.

When they reached the group of five, they all shouted in excitement at Isabelle's arrival. After a round of hugs, Izzy shouted over the noise of the club for introductions.

"Guys, this is Clary and Simon. Clary, Simon meet Meliorn, Seelie, Raphael, Helen, and Aline." She pointed to each person respectively.

"Nice to meet you guys," Seelie said and after there was a chorus of "nice to meet you"s from the others as well. Seelie took Isabelle by the arm and smirked. "Come with me, there was a group of really hot guys earlier that I think you would probably like to get to know."

Isabelle's eyes widened excitedly. She put a hand on Clary's arm. "Will you guys be okay without me?" Clary nodded and without another second of hesitation, Isabelle was following Seelie. Meliorn left with them. Soon, Helen and Aline broke off from the group too and it was just Raphael, Clary, and Simon left.

"Sorry for Iz," Raphael shouted over the music. He was looking into Clary's eyes with such intensity that she almost felt the need to look away. "She's a very... active person. Of course, you guys probably already knew that."

"Yeah," said Clary, "I've sort of gotten to understand that of her."

Raphael chuckled. It was deep and gruff. Almost like he was _trying_ to make his laugh sound more attractive. "Seelie always tries to set Izzy up. I mean, Iz doesn't need it, but I think that Seelie feels a little bad since Isabelle and Meliorn had been dating before Meliorn left Isabelle for Seelie. There was a lot of drama at the time but Iz got over it pretty quickly."

Clary opened her mouth to respond when Simon tapped her shoulder. "So," he said, "surprisingly I see my friend Maia. Would you mind if I-" He left the question ask itself.

Clary shook her head. "Not at all, go ahead."

Simon patted Clary on the shoulder. She watched as he dived into the crowd and made his way over to the girl that Clary had yet to meet. She had seen her around a few times but they hadn't spoken. Clary was brought back to reality when Raphael spoke.

"And then there were two," he chuckled.

Clary smiled. "I didn't really expect Isabelle to stick around for very long. Simon leaving though, that was a bit a surprise."

"You and Simon been friends for a while?"

"No." Clary shook her head. "I just moved here recently. Isabelle and I though... we go back." Clary's eyes found Isabelle at that moment. The girl was laughing and flirting with some guy. Her hair was smooth, silky black Cecily's. At that moment, she looked just like Cecily.

"-and I guess we've been friends ever since." Clary hadn't realized that she'd spaced out until Raphael was done talking. She nodded like she had been paying attention and hoped to god that the boy didn't notice her spacing out. "Are you friends with Alec then too?" Raphael asked after a moment.

"Not particularly," said Clary, "though my guardian has a rather close relationship with him."

"Who's your guardian?"

"Magnus Bane. He's my uncle."

"No shit?" Raphael laughed. "I know Magnus. Everybody knows Magnus. I didn't know he had any siblings though, let alone a niece."

"Yeah," Clary laughs nervously. "The family is sort of... screwed up."

"Knowing Magnus, I don't doubt it." Raphael looked around a bit before continuing. "Do you want to sit down? I'm getting kind of tired of standing."

Clary glanced around to find both Isabelle and Simon still indisposed with their respective people. After a moment, Clary nodded. "Sure, let's sit."

For a while, the two talked about the Lightwoods and Magnus. Clary learned a lot about her new friend from Raphael including plenty of morally questionable adventures they had been on. As time went on, Clary sort of forgot about Simon and Isabelle. It was past eleven o'clock when the found her.

"Clary, there you are!" Isabelle exclaimed. Clary spun around to her two friends. "Come on, it's late and we've got school tomorrow. We should probably be heading home."

"Yeah." Raphael checked his phone. "It looks like Meliorn is wanting to leave as well." He stood up but before actually leaving he turned to Clary. "It was nice meeting you, Clary, we should definitely talk again soon. Here, put your number in my phone and I'll text you." He handed Clary the device. Out of pure shock, Clary took it and put in her phone number. She didn't know how else to respond. Once Raphael was gone, though, Isabelle was slapping Clary on the arm and jumping up and down.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed. Simon even had wide eyes.

"What?" Clary asked holding her arm away from the girl.

"Raphael just asked for your number! He's totally going to ask you out! And he's picky with who he dates too." She gave Clary a pointed look before quickly returning to her wide grin.

"Uh," Clary glanced back in the direction Raphael had gone. "Let's just go, okay." She started out of the club.

Once Simon was dropped off and Isabelle and Clary were headed back to the manor, Isabelle's incessant chatter began again.

"I'm so proud of you," she beamed, "a guy asked for your number. Raphy is pretty good looking too. Eek, I knew you had it in you, Clare!"

Clary had no idea how to respond so she just stayed quiet. Even as they were entering the manor, though, Isabelle's excitement didn't go down.

"You two are home late," said Alec as they passed him. "What are you so happy about?"

"I'm just proud of my little fledgling!" Isabelle exclaimed giving Clary a tight squeeze. Clary let out an "oof" and still said nothing. "They grow up so fast."

"I'm... not even going to ask," Alec sighed. "Just get to bed. It's late."

With that, Clary went to her own room and changed into her soft pajamas. She got ready for bed as quickly as possible and let out a sigh of relief as her head hit her pillow. Clary pulled the blanket up to her chin and fell asleep in a matter of minutes. The dreams she had that night were fleeting scenes of her past. She didn't remember them when she woke but she still knew they had happened. She had vague memories of Will's face or Tessa's hair. Just stuff like that.

In the morning, Clary stood groggily from her bed. Before her feet hit the ground, though, she fell. No, she didn't fall because something was moved and it made her trip and fall. She fell because she was no longer in her room. She fell because she was suddenly in a greenery.

Clary stumbled forward but caught herself by grabbing onto the railing of a circular staircase. She looked around at the glass ceiling and the myriad of different plants with heavy confusion. It took a few seconds before it occurred to Clary what had happened. Quickly, she searched her pockets for her phone. Still in her pajamas, she didn't have it with her.

Attempting to contain her freakout, Clary slowly made her way out of the greenery. She thought about how odd it was that this time she hadn't passed out and woken up in a new place a new time. This time it was like she was one place one instance and another the next. It was a snap of the fingers and suddenly she was someplace else. Clary wondered if this time any time had passed. Maybe that was why she passed out: because time had passed.

When Clary reached the door. She creaked it open and peered out. The coast was clear so she made her way through the halls. Something about the halls looked oddly familiar to Clary. For a moment, she thought that she had been here before. That thought was cut off when voices sounded around the corner. Clary flattened herself against the wall then peered around to see who it was.

Some woman was walking down the hall with a phone to her ear. In the same way that the halls were familiar, so was this woman. Clary had no idea why but she almost looked like someone she knew. As the woman passed by, Clary listened to try and figure out where she was.

"Yes, yes, I understand that Maryse," the woman was saying. She looked like she was in her late twenties, possibly early thirties. "I was going to tell Stephen and Jace this morning but then Jace was saying something about an emergency and he left in such a rush that I didn't want to say anything. I'll tell both my boys at the same time, okay?" The woman paused where she was walking and tapped her foot as the other person, Maryse, responded.

 _Jace?_ Clary thought in panic. That's when it hit her why the building looked so familiar. This was his house. Did that mean... was this Jace's mom?

"It'll be a big adjustment," the woman continued snapping Clary from her shock, "but I think that Jace will be happy to have a little brother or sister." There was another pause. "Yes," she laughed, "as I've already told you, I'm sure I want to keep the baby." The woman continued walking down the hall. When she was out of sight, Clary continued toward the exit.

As soon as she was outside, Clary scanned the streets for people. When she spotted a woman texting as she strolled along the sidewalk, Clary sprinted over to her.

"Pardon me," Clary said as politely and calmly as she could in her state of shock, "would you be so kind as to let me borrow your phone to call someone? I'm in a bit of a... situation and I don't have my phone."

"Well sure sweetie," the woman replied. She handed Clary her phone though kept a watchful eye on her.

Clary dialed in Magnus' phone number which she had immediately taken it upon herself to memorize in case something like this happened. She only wished she had memorized Isabelle's number too. As she dialed, Clary took note of the date and time. It was still Thursday, but it appeared that she had skipped three hours.

"Hello?" Magnus asked. It was so nice to hear his voice that Clary momentarily didn't reply. "Hello..."

"Oh, sorry," said Clary, "Magnus, it's me."

"Clary?"

"Yeah... listen I can't really explain right now and this would probably be a story better saved for when you get home, but can you give me Isabelle's phone number, please? I'm borrowing someone's phone to call you right now."

Magnus didn't respond immediately. "Sure, let me see what it is." After he told Clary the number, she thanked him and hung up. Clary dialed Isabelle quickly and tapped her foot with anticipation while waiting for the girl to answer.

"Hello?" Isabelle answered.

"Thank god," Clary breathed.

"Clary!"

"Yeah, it's me. Listen, I'll tell you what happened when you get me. I'm in front of the Herondale Manor."

"How did you-"

"I'll tell you when you get me," Clary reiterated. Isabelle agreed and hung up. After returning the phone to the woman, she left and Clary was left alone to wait for Isabelle. It didn't take long until the car pulled up.

"Okay," Isabelle said as Clary got in and closed the door, "you have a lot to explain."

 **Hope y'all liked this chapter! Please review your thoughts!**


	13. When Cats Return

"Basically," Clary said to Isabelle as they sat in her car outside of the Lightwood Manor. They had driven there in silence, but now Izzy demanded answers. "I got out of bed, took not even one step, and suddenly I was in the greenery of the Herondale Manor. I guess I skipped about three hours. It was kind of weird this time because I didn't pass out."

"We were freaking out," Isabelle said. "When Alec and I couldn't find you we called Jace. He rushed over but eventually, he and Alec had to go to school. Alec let me stay home just in case you came back."

"Jace..." Clary muttered as she thought of the conversation his mother had been having earlier. "When I was in the Herondale Manor, I overheard his mom talking to someone named Maryse on the phone."

"That's my mom." Isabelle nodded. "They're friends."

"Well, I'm pretty sure that Jace's mom is pregnant. She was staying stuff about 'keeping the baby' and Jace having a 'little brother or sister.'" At Clary's words, Isabelle's jaw dropped. She covered her mouth with her hand and sat forward in her seat.

"Do you think that Jace knows?" She asked breathlessly.

"No." Clary shook her head. "His mom was saying that she was going to tell him and his dad this morning, but then Jace ran out."

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Because we called him about you. My bad looks like I ruined amazing news for him."

"He'll hear about it some other time," Clary consoled her.

"Yeah, you're right." Isabelle opened the car door and started to get out. "Come on, let's go inside. I need to text Alec and Jace that you're back so they're not freaking out all day."

"I'm just thankful that I didn't travel to another country or state again," Clary said following.

"Or that you didn't miss too much time," Isabelle added.

They went to Clary's room so she could get dressed. While Clary changed, Isabelle texted her brother. After a couple of minutes, her phone started ringing and she answered.

"Yeah?" Pause. "Yes." Another pause. "Yes." Isabelle sounded irritated. Clary furrowed her eyebrows as she pulled on a shirt. "Okay, fine." She held out the phone to Clary. "Alec wants to talk to you."

Clary took the phone and held it up to her ear in fear of the stern yelling she was about to get. "What the hell did I tell you the first day you were staying with us?" Alec immediately asked.

Clary winced. "Not to run away..."

"EXACTLY!" The screech hurt Clary's ear. "And what did you go and do?"

"Alec, it's more complicated than-"

"You went and you ran away. For three hours. You scared the crap out of me and Izzy and Jace. You're just lucky I hadn't called Magnus yet."

"I called Magnus," Clary cut in and the other line went quiet.

"You did?"

"Yes, Alec, because I needed Isabelle's phone number." She sat down on her bed. Isabelle sat beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders comfortingly. "Despite what you may think, I'm not a complete idiot. Yeah, I... ran away for a couple of hours, but you have no idea what I have going on ergo you don't get to judge my actions in the manner that you do. So, Magnus knows I was gone for a bit and I'm going to talk with him when he returns home, but for now you guys can calm down because I'm back and I'm fine."

With that, Clary hung up the phone. She gave it back to Isabelle then plopped backward on her bed. She closed her eyes tight trying to will all of her insane magical issues away. When it didn't work, she opened her eyes again.

"Izzy?"

"Yeah?"

"What if Magnus can't find a way to stop my time teleportations? What if I'm stuck having to deal with randomly disappearing for the rest of my life?"

"Don't think like that," said Isabelle, "Magnus will figure out something. I mean, you said he left because he needed to get other warlocks, right? Well, even if Magnus can't do anything then I'm sure one of them can. They'll fix this."

"I guess," Clary mumbled.

"In the meantime." Isabelle grabbed Clary's wrists and pulled her so she was sitting up. "Why don't we go out for brunch or a movie or something? Do something to take all this off your mind?"

"I'd rather not." Clary sighed. "I kind of just want to be alone right now." Isabelle rubbed Clary's back and stood up.

"Of course, well I'll be in my room if you need me." Then, she left.

Clary rolled over on her bed and grabbed her sketchbook. She saw her phone on the nightstand and took it too. She had two missed calls from Alec, four from Isabelle, and ten from Jace. Clary dropped her phone on her bed and opened her sketchbook. At least she was missing her history test today...

* * *

The rest of the week droned by without excitement. Clary missed Magnus. As much as she loved spending so much time with the Lightwoods and Jace, she wanted an old friend back. Not to mention, she felt she was ready to visit Jem's grave and only Magnus could bring her there.

It was Monday meaning that Magnus had officially been gone for one entire week. He had said it would just be a couple of days and so for the past several days Clary had been anticipating his arrival. She couldn't imagine what was taking him so long wherever he was. Didn't he just have to talk to a couple of friends and then teleport back here?

After school that day, Clary was sitting in the kitchen drawing. She paid little attention to her surroundings even as Church, the cat, circled around her feet purring. Clary recalled that Jem had a cat named Church. It was probably just a coincidence though.

Clary was drawing the Church that Jem used to own when the one that currently existed hopped up on the island. She looked up at him and compared him to her drawing. Maybe it was more than a coincidence...

"Strange," Jace said. Clary jumped at his sudden presence. "Church doesn't like anyone, but he looks pretty cozy with you."

Clary cocked her head at the cat. If Magnus was immortal then why couldn't a cat be? "Yeah, strange."

Jace walked over behind Clary and peered over her shoulder at her drawing. He then pulled out the stool beside Clary and sat. "You're very talented," Jace commented. His eyes were glued to the sketchbook.

"Oh." Clary didn't entirely know how to react. She felt jittery. "Thanks." Jace reached to change the page of the sketchbook. Clary's instincts immediately took over and she slammed her hand down on his. He raised a single eyebrow at their hands then at her.

"If you wanted to hold my hand you could've just asked," he said smirking.

Clary rolled her eyes and pulled her sketchbook towards herself. "Sorry, it's just... some of these drawings are very personal." Her mind went to the sketches of Will. Jace was sure to recognize the man considering he had portraits of him in his house. "Very personal."

Jace held up his hands. "No, I'm sorry. I should've asked first."

"It's fine," said Clary. In truth, she almost wished that she could show him the drawings the same way she showed them all to Simon and Isabelle and Magnus. It felt nice when she could share her creations with others. Hiding them just felt wrong.

"So." Jace cleared his throat. "What are you doing sitting all alone in the kitchen? Don't you usually draw in the library or in your room?"

Clary shrugged. "A change of scenery is nice every now and then. What are you doing in the kitchen? Well, I mean this particular kitchen. Shouldn't you be at home with your parents? You spend an awful lot of time at the Lightwood's." Clary was now attempting to figure out if Jace knew about his mother's pregnancy yet. It had been a couple days and it was actually killing her that she knew the secret.

Jace shrugged in return. "The Lightwoods like me, they don't care how much time I spend over here."

"Well, what about your family?"

Jace's eyebrows furrowed and he looked away from Clary. "My dad left on business again yesterday and mom is leaving tomorrow."

"So, why aren't you over there spending her last day here with her?"

"I don't know." Jace sighed. "I guess she's been acting kind of different lately. It's like something has changed at home and in all honesty that makes me a little nervous." Clary's eyebrows shot up. Jace was being so emotionally vulnerable with her right now. She didn't know how to respond. "With my parents always away on business, it's usually easier for me to spend my time here. Even when they are home, they're always working."

"I'm sorry," Clary sympathized. "I know what it's like to have an absent parent." She thought about her own father and how she had never met him. Will's family had been like her own and even before everything that had happened, Magnus had been a rather active male figure in her life. She had never suffered growing up with one parent, she thought.

"You don't really talk about your family," Jace commented. "Any particular reason why?"

Clary fiddled with her own fingers and bit her lip. She debated telling Jace a bit about her own family. She hadn't even really talked to Isabelle about that.

"I never met my father," Clary suddenly said, "and my mom once told me about him. She told me the story of when he accused her of having an affair with his best friend. He then tried to murder said friend and when he failed, he left. Neither of them ever saw him again."

"Oh," was all Jace said. After a moment of silence, he lifted his hand and put it over Clary's to stop her from fidgeting. She looked up at him and he smiled. _Will._ "You guys were better off without him."

Clary's lips parted slightly. She was having difficulty breathing because that was _Will's smile._ Clary jolted up from her seat. She snatched her sketchbook from the island and didn't look directly at Jace.

"I'm sorry," Clary said, "I just can't. I can't. I need closure and I never got closure. I don't know if I'll ever be able to get closure, but until I do I just can't." Clary stormed out of the room. After a few moments, she heard Jace scrambling to follow her.

"Hold on, Clary!" He had to jog to catch up. "What do you mean you can't?"

"I can't look at you," she said honestly. "I can hardly be in your presence. It's hard, it is so hard. I thought that I had gotten better about it but obviously, I have not. Being around Isabelle and Alec is perfectly fine. Great, even, because they're not such a hindrance on my entire existence! But you? No, I can't." Clary stopped walking when she reached the foyer of the manor. She didn't know where, but she wanted to go someplace just to get out of the house. "I'm sorry, Jace."

Jace opened his mouth to say something but was cut off when the front door opened behind Clary. She turned around and took a step back so she was beside Jace. Magnus entered the building first. He removed a hat from his head and grinned when he saw Clary. She took a step forward to greet him with joy when someone else walked in behind him.

The flowing brown hair and bright gray eyes were unforgettable. Clary collapsed on the ground in tears at the sight. She couldn't believe it. It was completely unreal.

 _Tessa._

 **Hope y'all liked this chapter! The story is about to start picking up drama wise. In the next chapter I'd like y'all to try and start guessing what's going to happen. Please comment!  
**


	14. When The Dead Are Alive Again

_Tessa._

Tears streamed down Clary's face. She couldn't help it. She thought that Tessa was gone. Dead, just like the others. She couldn't process it. What she wanted to do was run forward and embrace Tessa, what she did instead was sit on the floor bawling her eyes out.

Clary felt someone wrap their arms around her. They rubbed Clary's back before moving their hands to her face and lifting her head. Clary looked Tessa in the eyes now. Her breath caught as memories flooded back and the reality of it all set in.

"Is it really you?" Clary managed to whimper out.

Tessa nodded. She raised a hand to her face and quickly wiped a tear of her own. "Yeah, Clare, it's really me."

Clary laughed for joy. She pulled Tessa into a hug despite the fact that they were both sitting on the floor in the middle of the foyer. Probably ten minutes had passed of the two sitting on the ground in that position. At some point, Isabelle and Alec arrived in the foyer. Clary was aware of the fact that Magnus was speaking but she had no idea what he was saying. Everything was a jumble of tears.

Tessa released Clary from the hug and began to stand. As she did so, she pulled Clary up with her. Once the girl was reluctantly up, Tessa wrapped her arm back around Clary and began walking with her.

"Come on," she said in a soothing voice, "let's go and sit down and have a conversation about this." Clary could only nod.

Tessa walked Clary to the library. They sat down and stayed silent for a while. Clary's tears were silent now buy they still flowed. Alec set a box of tissues down on the table, then stepped back alongside Isabelle, Magnus, and Jace. Tessa took a tissue and wiped Clary's face for her. Once the old tears were gone, Clary looked up to stop the new tears from coming.

"I guess," Tessa whispered, "I have a lot to explain."

Clary choked on her laughter. "Yeah," she said, "you really do."

"So do you." Tessa lightly hit Clary on the shoulder. She spoke so lowly that even Clary could hardly hear. "You were gone for a hundred and forty years. You definitely have a lot to explain." Clary looked up at Tessa. Now it looked like she was going to cry. There was indescribable pain on her face. The pain of a girl who lost her best friend and now discovered that she was back. Clary guessed there was similar pain on her own face. Tessa looked over at the other people in the room. Her eyes dwindled on Jace before returning to Clary. "Maybe it'd be better if we spoke in a less crowded environment."

Clary nodded. "Probably."

"Why don't we," Magnus said approaching the table, "go back to my apartment with the others. There we can have a full discussion about everything that's happened."

"Others?" Clary turned to look at him.

Magnus smiled. "Yes, and I'm very excited for you to meet them."

* * *

Tessa, Magnus, and Clary arrived back at the apartment. Alec had volunteered to bring Clary's things over later that way the three could leave right away. The ride had been silent. Clary laid against Tessa who stroked the girl's hair.

When they entered the apartment, Clary heard the voices of a man and a woman. She looked around and found the sources of said voices in the kitchen. Both looked up at the door opening and their conversation stopped. The woman walked forward and clasped her hands together as she looked over Clary with a smile.

"Is this her?" She asked directing the question at Magnus.

"Yup." Magnus beamed. "Clary, I would like you to meet my good friends and fellow warlocks, Caterina Loss and Ragnor Fell."

"It's lovely to meet you, dear." Caterina took one of Clary's hands in her own. "I've heard so much about you from Magnus and from your mother."

"My mother?" Clary's head whipped to Magnus and Tessa.

"Caterina knew your mother," explained Magnus, "back in the 1800s. They went to college together and kept in touch even after Loss moved to New York."

"Wait." Clary's mind was racing. She didn't know what she was supposed to be focusing on right now. "Is she the friend you had in New York?" Clary gestured to Caterina. "She's the reason you were going to leave in 1878?"

Magnus shrugged then nodded. "She was. There was business to attend to and my friends needed my help."

"The magical world," spoke Ragnor Fell for the first time, "can be quite hectic."

"World?" Clary questions. "You make it sound like there's more than just warlocks out there. You make it sound big, really big."

"It is," says Ragnor. Magnus quickly waves a hand trying to silence the man. The look on his face is one of suppressed anger. Ragnor clasps his hands together behind his back and strides over to the group. "The magical world is full of warlocks and werewolves and vampires and faeries. There was a time when it was full of demons too, but the shadowhunters cut off the connection between this world and what is known as Edom. They cut down the downworlders until they were so rare that you would have to travel millions of miles to go from one to the next. This success made the shadowhunters near obsolete and so their own race and culture died out. In this day and age, there are few that still exists, but they all live in their own country, Idris."

"But you're all warlocks." Clary glanced around at the adults. "There are four of you right here, that doesn't seem very rare to me."

"The warlocks helped the shadowhunters once upon a time," Magnus explained. He seemed reluctant to be telling Clary about this topic but ultimately realized that after everything Ragnor said he had no choice. "They've let many of us live in peace. They have also sent a great many of us to Edom and killed others." Magnus motioned to the couch for Clary to sit down. When she did, he sat beside her and continued. "You see, warlocks are half human and half demon which is why it would be impossible for a new warlock to arise. Tessa here is the youngest warlock because back in the 1800s there was a rogue warlock who made a crack in the barrier between earth and Edom. A single demon escaped and Tessa came to be. The shadowhunters were quick to banish the demon and repair the crack. The barrier is now stronger than ever."

"What about the warlock?" Asked Clary. "I mean, could something like that happen again?"

"We have no knowledge of who the rogue warlock was," Tessa stated. She took the seat on the other side of Clary. "But I can guarantee you that we won't let anything bad happen to you or any other mundane."

"This is too much." Clary shook her head. "I'm just having a really difficult time believing any of this."

"It'll take a while to get used to the idea of all this magic," said Caterina, "and we're more than happy to give you all the time you need. We're just here to try and help stop you from having any more of your time teleportations."

"You think you can fix me?" Clary looked around at everyone again. "Do you guys really think you can fix me?"

"We'll sure as hell try." Tessa set her hand on Clary's shoulder.

"In the meantime," Magnus cleared his throat, "Clary you're going to continue going to school and hanging out with your friends and living a normal life. A normal life except for the weekends. Every weekend we're going to run tests on you then during the week the four of us will discuss and try to figure something out."

"So, right now-"

"Right now," Tessa cut off Clary softly, "the two of us are going to spend the rest of the day catching up." She wrapped both her hands around one of Clary's.

"Why don't the two of you go out, get something to eat, and just talk," Magnus suggests. He stands from the couch pulling Clary up with him. "Go on and have the time of your lives."

"Thank you, Mags," Clary says. She gives the man a tight hug before backing away and taking Tessa's hand in her own. "We'll see you later."

* * *

Tessa and Clary ended up in London. They had stayed in New York for a short time, but reminiscing about the past only drove the two to further longing for the city they had known together. They wandered down the streets of the city. People bustled about minding their own business.

"So tell me," Tessa said after a brief silence, "that boy earlier, the one with all the gold..."

She didn't even have the finish the thought, Clary knew where she was going with it. "Jace." Clary nodded. "He's yours. He is your great times something grandson."

"He looks like Will," she sighed.

"I know. It's been really hard for me because of that." Clary's mind drifted. "Really hard."

"I can imagine. I wish that I could get to know Jace- you said his name is?- as the great something grandson he is, but I can't just tell him who I am. We're not supposed to let any mundanes know about the magical world. You are an exception because, well-" She gestured to Clary. Clary nodded thinking of Isabelle. "Oh, and those other two, Mags told me about them, Alec and Isabelle Lightwood. Children of the Lightworms! I can hardly believe it! Alec is such the spitting image of the Herondale side though, I could completely see Cecily and Will in him. Isabelle is Gabriel through and through. Everything that Magnus told me about them, it just seems so surreal that either of them can even exist. I-"

"Oh my god," Clary cut off Tessa. She stopped in her tracks staring at what was ahead of her. Tessa stopped and turned to Clary. She followed her line of sight and let out a faint 'oh'. "That's where-"

"Yeah."

Clary chewed on her lower lip. "Do you think that we could-"

Tessa smiled down at Clary. "Sure," she said, "I moved on a long time ago, do you think you're ready to start moving?"

"It's been a hundred and forty years, hasn't it?" Clary nodded and started forward. "I can move."

Entering the cemetery, Clary spotted her mother's stone. She glanced around to find Jem's. Before she could find it though, Tessa headed in its direction. She found it with the expertise of a person that had visited the grave a hundred times. And Tessa probably had, probably more.

The letters on the stone were worn but visible. There were no flowers on the grave like there were on a few others. After hundreds of years, nobody comes to visit the dead anymore. After hundreds of years, nobody remembers the dead anymore. People like Jem and Will would always have their old friends to visit them. But what about those that didn't have immortal friends? What about those whose names were long forgotten by families that had moved across the world? What about everyone else?

Clary crouched in front of Jem's gravestone. She ran her fingers over the smooth name. _James Carstairs._

 _"Clarissa, this is James Carstairs." Jocelyn held her twelve-year-old daughter by the shoulders and she introduced the young girl to the new boy. The woman crouched down so she could whisper in Clary's ear. "He just moved to London and he's going to be staying with your aunt for a little while so I thought I would introduce you two."_

 _James had stayed several feet away with his head hung low. His hair was strangely silver and his skin had an odd pasty glow. Clary could tell he was shy and, in spite of her own reservations, she decided to make the effort. Clary reached out her hand and gave a toothy smile. When James didn't move, she took a step forward. He looked up with raised eyebrows._

 _"Hi," Clary said. She thrust her hand forward again and patiently waited for this James kid to shake it._

 _Eventually, he slowly brought his hand up and grasped hers. "You can call me Jem."_

 _"Alright." Clary shook his hand up and down several times before releasing it. "Nice to meet you, Jem. Call me Clary."_

"Clary?" Tessa was asking. Clary blinked turning to her friend. "You alright?"

"Fine." She smiled. "I was just thinking about when Jem and I first met. He was so shy, so sweet. He grew so much."

"Yeah." Tessa chuckled. "I remember when I first fell in love with him. It was the summer of 78 and we were all at the beach. I don't know really, one moment I was watching him and Will play volleyball, the next I was hit in the face with the ball and Jem rushed over to make sure I was okay. It was then that I really realized how sweet he was. I mean, I had always recognized that he was amazing, but how he cared for me was just... I don't know." Tessa shook her head and looked at the ground.

Clary rubbed Tessa's arm. "For a while, I could tell there was something between you guys, but neither of you ever said anything to me about it. Then, Will started crushing on you and he was just devastated when he realized how in love you both were. I guess you loved him too though because you guys ended up marrying."

"I always loved Will," Tessa admitted. Clary raised her eyebrows at the girl in surprise. "From the moment that I met him I loved him. I never could've imagined that he would love me back, so I moved on and I fell for Jem. Then... everything happened."

"'Everything,'" Clary repeated. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." Tessa turned to Clary and her eyes were brimming with tears. "None of it was your fault." She took Clary in her arms and hugged her. "I love you, Clare."

"I love you too, Tess," Clary whispered. "Out of everyone that could've ended up with me in the future, I'm glad it's you."

"And Magnus," Tessa added.

Clary laughed. "And Magnus."

After another minute of the two sitting there, Tessa raised her right hand and snapped. In her hand appeared a red lily. As she lowered it to the ground, Clary grabbed her wrist stopping her.

"Don't you think," said Clary with a smile, "that a white flower might be a bit more appropriate." The image of Jem's silver hair and eyes and skin came to Clary's mind. Tessa chuckled and nodded her head. She flicked her wrist and the lily turned a glittering white. Then, she set the flower down. Clary kissed two of her fingers, then pressed them to the stone. She stood pulling Tessa up with her. "I think it's about time that we head back home."

Tessa nodded. She took Clary's hand in hers and squeezed. Clary closed her eyes taking a deep breath when she opened them she was back at home.

"I'm glad we got to do this," Tessa said. "It was nice."

"It was," Clary agreed.

"You should get to bed." Tessa collected the things she had left in Magnus' apartment before they left. "I promise that I'll come by every single day though."

"I can't wait."

Tessa left and as Clary walked to her room she passed a clock that read 12:18. Clary sighed, she had school in the morning and was absolutely exhausted. Opening her bedroom door, Clary didn't take one more step before she froze and screamed.

"Finally," Jace said as he sat up on her bed. "You're home. No need to scream, though, I'd rather not wake Magnus. I have an inkling of a feeling that he wouldn't like me in here. Now." He patted the space beside him. "Let's talk."

 **Hope y'all liked this chapter! Comment your thoughts!**


	15. When You Get Migraines

_So, is it just normal for guys to show up at a girl's window in the middle of the night nowadays?_

Clary sent the text as Jace continued to pace at the foot of her bed. He had come for some reason, that reason had yet to be explained.

From Izzy:  
 _Umm, not really.  
It's like a cliche in movies, but it's not a real thing.  
Why?_

Clary sighed.

From Clary:  
 _No reason._

"Who are you texting?"

So, Jace had finally stopped pacing then.

"Nobody." Clary set her phone down. "What do you want to talk about already?"

Jace looked deep in thought for a moment. He glanced at the door, then at Clary, then spoke. "She looked really familiar." At the confused look on Clary's face, Jace continued. "That girl, Tessa or whatever. What was that whole reunion about anyway?"

Clary had thought that Jace was going to question her about the umpteenth freakout she'd had. She wasn't sure which she preferred him questioning: Tessa or the freakout. "She's... my sister." Clary blurted it out before she could stop herself. Now she would have to tell Magnus about this ploy. "My step-sister, that is. I haven't seen her in a really long time."

Clearly acknowledging the look on Clary's face saying that she didn't want to discuss this, Jace changed the subject. "Okay, that makes sense, I guess? The real reason I came over here though, is because I wanted to ask you about what happened _before_ Tessa and Magnus showed up." _Crap,_ Clary thought. Jace continued. "You've said a lot of really weird stuff since you've arrived, but that honestly topped it all. I mean, you seem fine around me right now. What happened before?"

 _Well,_ thought Clary _, Tessa is here now and that has somehow settled my nerves tenfold. Maybe perhaps instead of searching for both her and Will in you, I'm only seeing Will. Which, honestly, hardly makes it better. For the time being though, it feels bearable._

Instead, Clary said: "I just had a lot on my mind earlier."

"That hardly answers anything." Jace stepped forward and squatted down in front of where Clary sat on her bed. He locked eyes with her and suddenly the room grew hot. "Would you please just tell me why I am a 'hindrance on your entire existence?' It's killing me, Bane."

Clary blinked. "I-it's complicated."

Jace stood with a sigh of exasperation. He ran a hand through his hair and turned away from the redhead. "Everything is complicated. Can I just ask you one thing?" Jace looked back at Clary with tired in his eyes. She could tell something was bothering him, not this current situation but something else too. She nodded. "Would you prefer to never see me again?"

That took Clary by surprise. Her eyebrows shot up and she didn't know what to say. Deep down she knew that it might be best for her mental health if she said yes, but of course she couldn't say yes. That would be a lie.

"No..." she finally whispered.

And Jace seemed content with that. He nodded and Clary noticed that he was fiddling with his own hands. "Good, I'm glad."

"Listen, Jace." Clary bit her lip to stop herself from spilling all of her secrets to him. He raised an eyebrow at her with expectancy and curiosity on his face. "I'm sorry for how I've acted around you. It's not your fault. I've just had a really complicated past."

"It's fine, I understand."

She studied his face and his expression for a little while, then she scooted backward on her bed and tapped the spot that was in front of her. When Jace sat, she spoke. "Are you okay? You seem kind of out of it."

He stayed quiet for just a moment. "My mom is pregnant." Information she knew but raised her eyebrows as though she didn't. "And she told my dad and me the other day. Only, I guess what my mom didn't know is that my dad got a vasectomy like a really long time ago. So, yeah..."

Clary had absolutely no idea what a vasectomy was, but from context clues, she assumed it meant something negative regarding the pregnancy. So, she just rubbed Jace's arm in comfort and made a mental note to ask Isabelle later.

"But the thing is," Jace continued, "I don't think they're going to get a divorce. They're just sort of going to silently hate each other forever which makes my life so much more fun."

"Oh, wow..." Clary thought about how big of a deal divorce was in her time. Most people who fell out of love wouldn't divorce because of the scrutinization and the stigma. Maybe that was one thing that hadn't changed? Or maybe they weren't divorcing for some other reason that Clary didn't understand.

All this complication was beginning to hurt her head. The differences and similarities between her world and this one, they were beginning to kill her. Clary squeezed her eyes shut as the headache got worse. Seemingly it came out of nowhere and a moment ago it hadn't felt like anything but now it was tearing at her nerves and pounding on her skull. Clary bent over and pressed the palms of her hands to her forehead. It kept on getting worse.

"Clary?" Jace set a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?" She could feel that he crouched down in front of her, but when she opened her eyes her vision doubled and spots appeared everywhere. "Clary?"

She shook her head unable to speak words. A loud yelp escaped from her throat as the throbbing continuously grew worse. Clary shouted from the pain. She felt like she was going to throw up.

The door to her room opened and someone entered. "Clary?" Magnus. "Jace!"

"I-" Jace started, but was cut off.

"We'll discuss this later." Magnus stepped closer and put his hands over Clary's. "What's wrong? What's happening?"

"I don't- Ah!" Clary pulled at her hair and brought her knees up to her chest. It was unbearable.

"Here, let me." Ragnor's voice. Magnus stepped back and the other warlock took his place. He set his fingers over Clary's wrist then paused. "Get the boy out of here." After a few moments, he continued. Something, a needle, pricked Clary's wrist where Ragnor's fingers had previously been. The headache began to fade and in place of it, she felt drowsy. As the world was going blank, Ragnor whispered something in Clary's ear. It sounded like only a mumble though as she passed out.

* * *

When Clary woke, she was in her bed. The sun had risen. No one else was around. Stepping out of bed, Clary heard voices from the living room. Her door was cracked and so she peered through it to where the four warlocks sat and spoke.

"I wouldn't say that it magic-induced," Ragnor was saying, "we can't just automatically say the migraine is related to her disappearances with no proof."

"We shouldn't be ruling out that they're related either," said Tessa.

"Maybe it was stress induced," suggested the other girl, Caterina, "she's been dealing with a lot lately."

"Magnus, what did Jace say him and Clary were discussing before the episode?" Tessa wondered.

Magnus shook his head. "I didn't ask him, I just kicked him out." When Tessa only stared at him, he shrugged. "Your grandson. You wanna know, then you ask him."

"We can discuss my complicated relationship with Jace later." Tessa scowled. "For now, we need to know what was happening just before Clary had to migraine. If it really was only stress induced then there are certain steps we should be taking to keeping her calm. If it wasn't just about emotions though, well we need to be taking different steps."

"I agree with Tessa, we need to know as much as possible," said Caterina.

"Then why don't you just ask me?" Clary pushed open her door and exposed herself to the group.

"Clarissa!" Magnus rushed over to her and looked her over from head to toe. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Clary shrugged. "I feel fine."

Magnus seemed to breathe out in relief. He nodded and stepped back. "Yes, well, you've missed another day of school now. I'm not happy about it, but I'm glad you're okay."

Clary grinned but her focus was turned to Caterina when she began to speak. "So, Clary what was happening just before you got the migraine? Do you remember? I know that sometimes when warlocks use magic on humans such as what Ragnor did to you it can leave their mind feeling boggled for a period of time."

Clary furrowed her eyebrows. _He didn't use magic on me_ , she thought, _he injected me with something._ Instead, she said, "I was just sitting there talking to Jace when all of a sudden my head started pounding. I don't know if it had to do with stress. I mean, it could've. We were talking about-" Clary cut herself off, she wasn't sure if that had been news Jace wanted everyone to know, "complicated things and I was thinking about how so much has changed and yet a lot is the same."

"Sounds stressed induced to me," Ragnor spoke up. Magnus looked at him for a moment, then sighed.

"I agree. Unfortunately, a lot has been happening and it might be best if you slow down a bit, Clary. I will admit that I did throw you into the world rather quickly and after all your time spent with your friend's relatives... well, you need to slow down." Magnus ran a hand through his hair. "You can take the rest of this week off. We'll run some tests on you, you'll spend time with Tessa, you'll relax."

"Magnus, I'm fine-"

"No, Clary, you're clearly not fine and it's my fault. I shouldn't have been so hard on you, and yet I also should've done a better job at keeping you away from the Lightwoods. I shouldn't have let you dive right into school. I shouldn't have let the stress build up. I should've been a better father."

Clary wanted to say something, anything, just that he was wrong. She wanted to validate that he was the best father figure she'd ever had. Words seemed miles away now and all she could do was stand there with sorrow and regret in her heart. The other warlocks also remained silent, unsure of what could be said to fix the situation. They all watched as Magnus' head hung low and he exited to his bedroom.

"That's not true," Clary managed to whisper a full minute after his door had closed. Tessa wrapped an arm around Clary's shoulders but continued to be silent.

"Give him some space," said Caterina, "just for the rest of the day. He'll be back to himself tomorrow."

"For now why don't you go find your friends and explain why you missed another day of school." Tessa smiled weakly and at Clary's confused look she broke out into a full grin. "You were sick, of course."

Clary nodded and checked the time. "They actually will be getting out soon and it would be nice to see Simon."

"And Jace, I'm sure," Tessa continued to which she received a glare. "Well, the boy was in your room in the middle of the night, I can only assume what was taking place."

"It wasn't like that!" Clary smacked Tessa on the arm but was laughing. "I swear, we were just talking."

"Even still." Her tone rose with mocking. "Talking at midnight can be done over the phone."

"Just shut up." Clary rolled her eyes and started towards her room to change.

"You can't deny it forever!" Tessa called. "The sooner you admit, the easier it'll be for all of us!"

Later, Clary was waiting outside the school as everyone left for home. Upon seeing Simon, her spirits lifted and she waved to him. His eyebrows shot up when he spotted her and he immediately headed in her direction.

"Clary," said he, "where were you today?"

"Sick." She shrugged. "Sorry to leave you alone again."

"It's fine, wanna head to Java Jones?"

Clary nodded. As she turned to leave with Simon, she caught Jace's eye. Immediately, she turned her head. He probably had a lot of questions. Questions involving who were Caterina and Ragnor, what that headache was all about, and more. She didn't want to deal with that now... or ever really.

They arrived at Java Jones and took a couple of seats after ordering some coffee. Thankfully, there was no poetry slam happening at the moment. Instead, music quietly played from some overhead speakers and the place was filled with the chatter of people and the smell of coffee.

"I should probably tell you something," Clary announces as a waitress comes over with their orders. "I won't be in school for the rest of this week. Some family came into town so I'll be spending time with them for a bit."

Simon only nods in understanding. "Alright, well hopefully we can meet up sometimes."

"Definitely." Clary smiles into her cup glad to be in a calm environment for once.

 **So, I was going to make this chapter longer, but then I was like nah. Sorry, it's kinda short. Still, I hope y'all liked it. Please comment and go check out the other story I've now posted: The Florist and The Bartender. A Clace fic, duh. Love you guys!**


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